Heavy Reading
by bluefurcape
Summary: A terrible book series might be Sakura's only chance to save Kakashi's life.
1. Chapter 1

In Sakura's mind, there was no doubt that her former teacher, Hatake Kakashi, was the best of the best.

Which was why when he began to show up at her door every few months to borrow the next installment of "The Royal Romances," she was baffled. He had money he received from well paying jobs. The man had gone years buying and amassing his own collection of terrible books, so it made no sense to her that he came to her for these particular terrible books when he could buy his own. Then again, he was also famously stingy, having left her footing the bill on more than one occasion without an ounce of compassion for her impoverished wallet.

It all began when they were on a simple escort mission together. To combat him ignoring her by burying his nose in a book, she brought her own reading material so that she could ignore _him_. Ha!

Except it didn't really seem to bother him that much.

Which bothered her.

Still, she persisted, refusing to be the one to lose this battle. She soon forgot her private, one-sided battle with the Copy Nin and lost herself in the book. She didn't realize how loudly she was reading, little gasps of surprise at plot twists and giggles over witty banter, until Kakashi pointedly cleared his throat and asked, "Interesting read?"

"Oh yes, very." On the outside, she maintained her veneer of nonchalance, even though she wanted to do a victory jig. So he'd noticed that the little teacher's pet wasn't sucking up to him this time? Good. "I take it your book is interesting as well?"

"I've read this one before," he said, sighing. The binding had deep creases and the cover was worn. Ever since Jiraiya passed, no one had taken up the author's mantle. While Naruto had done it for a while, becoming Hokage had put that career on the backburner.

"Have you thought of giving other books a try? There are more out there, you know."

"I'm a very loyal reader." Kakashi feigned indignation, as if Sakura had implied he was some kind of book slut.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

She returned to reading, but it became clear that Kakashi was not as faithful as he claimed. He had weaknesses just like any other man. His eye wandered from time to time to read over her shoulder, although every time she turned to catch him at it, he appeared to be deeply fascinated by the railing of the boat. It went on like this for hours. There was little else to do on a boat journey along the coast while you accompanied a ridiculously wealthy, but paranoid client who required both guardians and a medical expert.

Sakura wasn't even sure how Kakashi got roped into the mission. It was certainly less than his usual paygrade these days ever since he stopped teaching. She, on the other hand, firmly needed the money and jumped at the opportunity when Tsunade tipped her off about it.

After a few hours of their little game, Sakura gave into pity. "Do you want to read it, sensei?"

Kakashi regarded the book she held out to him like it was an animal that might bite before formally accepting it with both hands. "Thank you. Also, you don't have to call me sensei anymore."

That was true. Sakura realized this long ago when she hit the jounin rank. It made Kakashi occupy an awkward space, because he was still someone she put up on a pedestal, which was fine when he was your teacher, but as a colleague that got weirder. She'd avoided calling him by any title, really, up until that moment where the force of habit made her tongue slip. She forced out a laugh, like it was a joke. "Oh, yea. Right. Should I call you senpai then?"

He shuddered. "Please don't."

"Hatake-kun?"

He somehow conveyed horror, despite only showing a quarter of his face, the rest being hidden under a mask and headband. "Kakashi is fine."

That seemed…intimate. She blushed involuntarily. "O-oh. All right."

His eye crinkled, telling her he was smiling before he turned his attention to the book. To her complete and utter shock, he finished the book in thirty minutes and turned right back around to return it to her. "You're done already?" she blurted out. The book was five hundred pages of convoluted drama and love plots.

"Fast reader."

"I've seen you read a single book for a year." She flipped through the pages suspiciously. "Did you even read it? What is the love interest's name?"

"Trick question. There are two love interests. Their names are Kurou and Sosuke." He crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. "I can read fast when I want to."

"So why do you take so long with your Icha Icha books?"

"I reread it for the details. Also, I can take as long as I like with what's mine."

"So which team are you on?"

"Pardon?"

"Team Kurou or Team Sosuke?" Among the fans who read the series, this was a serious issue of debate. Wars had been fought. T-shirts had been printed. Body pillows—ahem.

"Team Kurou. Obviously."

She snorted, jabbing a finger on the cover at the illustration of a ruggedly handsome man with a ponytail. "Okay now I know you didn't read it, because how can you conclude that Itsuko should end up with Kurou when Sosuke is her soulmate?"

"Kurou was willing to give up everything for her—status, wealth, his family—I was moved." He nodded to the other man on the cover, the one looking back longingly over his shoulder at the heroine while his robes drifted artfully in the breeze.

It went back and forth like this until they reached their destination, when their client bravely interrupted, "I liked Ouran."

This prompted the two nin to stare at him in disbelief.

As they watched him disembark at the dock, they muttered to each other.

"He _really_ didn't get it."

"Ouran was the _worst_."

"I know, right?"

There was a brief pause in their judgment of their client's bad choices. Then Kakashi spoke up, "Do you happen to have the next one?"


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura received few visitors other than Ino or one of her handful of close friends. Also, all of them preferred to use the door. Thus, she quickly came to associate the taps at her window with Kakashi. At first, he'd politely returned the books within a day or so and then wait a few weeks before asking for the next one, until she insisted he could read them as long as he liked. After all, it wasn't like she hadn't read them yet.

"This isn't a food stand, you know. You don't always have to come through the window," she grumbled as she pushed open the glass.

He was perched on the railing of her little balcony, greeting her with his trademark raising of his hand. "Yo."

His initial visits to Sakura's apartment had been as short as his reading time. Then, Sakura made it her personal goal to make him stay longer. Sakura was vicious about her goals in her effort to be a self-actualized and productive young adult. She was going to put her feelings of inadequacy as the weakest student into the past and gain his respect as a human-being. They had been part of a team, damn it. That meant something.

Didn't it?

The first step in Sakura's plan formed when she noticed he liked to appear around 6 to 7 in the evening. A man of routine, this one. The second step was finding out his favorite meal. This involved cornering Genma while he was visiting the hospital and interrogating him with her best Morino Ibiki impression. She was successful, gleaning out the precious piece of intelligence that it was broiled saury.

And that was when she set her trap.

The moment he'd smelled that saury he was on alert. Years of training and honing his skills were nothing to sneeze at and she knew she couldn't underestimate him.

"Making dinner?" he'd asked from the window, because he was not yet at the point where he allowed himself to even step inside.

"Mhm," she toned her affirmation. She _casually_ pulled out the dish of saury, which she'd left to warm in her oven until this very moment, and set it on her counter. "What brings you around?"

"Returning the book."

"What'd you think of it?"

"It was good," was his short, superficial reply.

She went to the bookshelf in her living room and returned with the next book, holding it out so he got a decent look at it. "Just good?" she prodded. She needed more than that. They'd moved past the one word replies, but now she was stuck on three word replies. It was tedious work, like brushing off dirt millimeter by millimeter over a fossil.

She stopped short of her window, book in hand, just out of his reach. He realized he was expected to respond rather than snatching the book and disappearing into the night. He nodded to the oven dish. "I'm sure you're busy or expecting company."

"I'm actually not." She placed the book on her dining table. "Have you eaten?"

"Something like that."

"I don't understand that response. You've either eaten or you haven't."

"Does smoking count?"

She made a face. "No, of course not. I thought you were going to quit."

"I am. I'm just not succeeding at it." He climbed over and was sitting on her windowsill now. Better, much better.

She grabbed her cooking sticks from her drawer, which were just oversized chopsticks, and dished out the saury. "Stay for dinner, then." Light, Sakura, keep your voice light, she reminded herself. The key to this was acting like she didn't care if he did or not. She had a feeling that the moment he got a whiff of her offer of friendship, he'd be gone in an uncomfortable flash.

"I don't want to be a bother." Beneath his mask, his nose was twitching as he inhaled the smell of the meal being put together.

"No bother at all," she said sweetly.

He leaned in. Unconsciously, she gripped her plate tighter, but she forced herself to turn away and go to the table. She strained her ears for the sound of dishes clinking or footsteps padding around the linoleum. Nothing. Disappointment sat like a lump in her stomach. She picked at the mound of rice in her bowl with her chopsticks without enthusiasm. There was always next time. She'd re-evaluate—maybe broiled saury wasn't his favorite meal and she was going to have to pay Genma another visit. She stabbed the fish viciously.

"If you do that, the meat will break apart," Kakashi pointed out as he took a seat across from her.

She brightened. "You're staying?"

"How can I turn down a free meal?" He lifted a shoulder. Discretely, he slid the book on the table to his side.

"You're going to love what comes next," she said, grinning.

"Please, Sakura. No spoilers."

* * *

Several dinners tactically forced on Kakashi later, he handed her two movie tickets for a Friday night showing of the film adaption of the first book of "The Royal Romances." She stared at it blankly for the longest time, until Kakashi explained, "It's how I'm paying you back for all the food."

"You never pay people back." She gasped, holding out the tickets as far from her as possible as if they'd explode. Then, a more serious thought made her forehead wrinkle in concern. "Are you dying?"

He coughed. "Perfectly healthy, I'm afraid. I thought you'd like watching the movie with a friend or something."

"But I don't know anyone who reads." She was absolutely serious about this. Naruto had never been book smart. Sasuke relied on his near photographic memory to study exactly what he needed and nothing more. Ino had never picked up gathered paper thicker than a deck of cards. "Do you want to go with me?"

"You realize you'd be seen going to the movie theater with your old teacher?"

"Kind of hard to forget that."

"You're sure you don't have a boyfriend you'd rather go with?"

"Boyfriend?" She snorted. "No, that's certainly not something I have to worry about."

"This isn't…weird?"

 _Of course it's weird_! She wanted to shout at him, but somehow, along the way, just wanting to be closer to Kakashi had turned into…something. Her heart beat faster. It was weird, but a bigger part of her wanted to embrace that, to be brave and not worry for once about the consequences. Her teachers, including Kakashi, taught her that that was always a good way for a ninja to get herself killed. Yet with him, she thought she could do it. She could trust him.

"I can't think of anyone else I'd want to go with," she said. It was the only answer she could give right now that she knew she was completely sure of.

When the day came to watch the movie, she agonized over her outfit. The dress she'd initially planned on now seemed too much like something you'd wear for a date. This wasn't a date, she reminded herself again and again. She couldn't appear like that was what she was expecting. Eventually, she settled on a gray sweater with a floral print paired with a simple black skirt. She was about to change again when she noticed the time and ran out the door.

She wasn't surprised when she got there before him. A horrible thought occurred to her that he would be late, like he was late for most things. Or maybe this was a terrible prank and he wouldn't show up at all. She anxiously searched the crowd gathered at the entrance of the theater.

"Yo." Kakashi was dressed in civilian clothes, trading in his usual gear for a navy long sleeved shirt and black pants. He still wore a mask, much to her disappointment, because her few glimpses of his face while he ate were the few highlights of her otherwise mundane life.

"'Yo' yourself. You were almost late."

His brow arched. "So you mean I was on time?"

"Yes, but you were this close to being late, which some people would consider being just as bad."

They went back and forth on the finer points of what it meant to be 'late' or not as they walked inside. He stopped abruptly and stared up at the prices listed at the concession stand. "I distinctly remember popcorn being 10 yen when I was a kid."

"How long has it been since you've been here? You know, only old people talk about how much stuff costs more now," she teased. She went up to the counter and bought a bag, just to see if it would shock his sensibilities that she would pay that much for it.

"For a smart kunoichi, you seem awfully blasé about being swindled."

"Sometimes you realize you're being tricked, but you just don't care." She popped a piece into her mouth and grinned. He thought she was smart, huh? Never let it be said that Kakashi didn't have a good eye.

They found their seats in the theater. The chairs were so crammed, their knees brushed together. As the lights dimmed, Sakura only became more aware of their proximity. She stole a glance at him. His attention was wholly on the screen, his profile lit by the flickering glow of the film. It was just in her head. She was making a big deal out of nothing.

She was watching a movie with a friend. That was it.

Her eyes narrowed.

 _And he was stealing her popcorn._

* * *

Sakura muttered to herself as she flipped through the food magazine, occasionally writing notes in the margins.

"Since when have you been so into cooking?" Ino asked, looking over from her fashion magazine. She was sprawled on Sakura's couch in a pair of Sakura's pink and green striped pajama pants.

"I've just decided to pick up some new recipes."

Ino's blue eyes focused like lasers. "Are you dating someone? Is that it? Have you broken your Buddhist vows finally?"

"Still firmly in the nunnery," Sakura replied dryly.

"You need to _spill_."

"I'm not dating!"

"But you want to—I smell it on you."

"Okay, gross. Are you a pheromone sniffer now?"

"Desperation isn't a pheromone." Ino tossed aside her magazine, all pretense of reading gone. She hung over the couch cushions, fixing Sakura with a squint.

Sakura was indignant. "I am not desperate. I could get a date for myself any time I want."

Crap, that was a mistake.

"Then lets go out tonight," Ino said, cackling. She disappeared into Sakura's room and returned with a skimpy blue dress that resembled bandages draped over the hanger. "Wear this. You'll look so hot."

"Where did you even find that?" Sakura asked, more to herself than to the other woman. She sputtered when Ino suddenly tossed the dress at her face and scurried back into the bedroom again.

When she reappeared, Ino had squeezed herself into a black dressed that left her pale shoulders bare. She struck a pose in front of the mirror in the narrow hallway.

Sakura untangled the dress and approached her friend. "Is Shikamaru coming with us?"

"Nope," Ino replied, not pausing once as she pursed her lips at her own reflection. With that, Sakura knew exactly what was going on.

"Did you two break up again?"

"It's his fault." Ino rolled her eyes.

The doorbell rang. Sakura opened the door to reveal TenTen and Hinata, already dressed and made up. Sakura snapped her head to Ino's direction. "When did you even call them?"

"A while ago," she replied, twisting her hair up and seeing the effect. She let the strands drop, pointing at Sakura. "You're not doing anything tonight, anyway. We were going to eat ice cream and binge watch shows."

"Being lazy counts as having plans," Sakura protested. Too late, she saw the genius of Ino's plan. Infiltrate the enemy's base, lull her into a false sense of security, and then spring.

"There's a rumor that Sasuke is going to be there."

"That does nothing for me," Sakura deadpanned.

"Damn, I was sure you were back on that wagon again."

In the end, Sakura was both outmaneuvered and outmanned. She donned a much more modest dress and called it a victory.

The rest of a night was a drunken blur. She knew she was going to regret it in the morning, but her friends continued to ply her with drinks and were somehow more persuasive as the night went on. They stumbled back to Sakura's place near dawn and at this point, Sakura wasn't sure anymore what had actually happened and what was a dream.

She was certain though, as she ushered her friends up the apartment steps, that the Kakashi shaped shadow moving past the building was not her imagination. She pressed the key into Hinata's hand, whom she assumed as the future Hokage's girlfriend, would be the most sober. Hinata giggled, dropping it immediately, not assuring Sakura in the least, but she didn't have time to worry about that before Kakashi got away.

She found him, by pure luck, ambling away around the corner. He turned to her in mild surprise at her appearance, which was when she mentally cursed at herself. She carried her heels in one hand, running towards him barefoot. Her hair floated around her head in a frizzy cloud. All her makeup had melted off hours ago and her face felt hot from the sudden exertion.

"Looks like you had a fun night," he said, finally.

"Something like that." She self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears. "Why did you come by so late…?"

"It's 5 A.M." He pointed it out, like she was the weird one and not him for visiting someone before dawn.

"Early then. Aren't you the one who claimed time was relative?"

"I'd appreciate if you didn't use my own words against me."

"Is this a regular thing? You, showing up at my apartment while I'm not around?" She laughed, but the amusement she felt began to shrivel when he didn't immediately deny it. "Uh, Kakashi…"

He tapped her head with a book. Her book. "No, I'm afraid not. Just wanted to return this before I left."

"You're going on a mission? I wouldn't have minded waiting until you came back."

"Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before I come back. I didn't want to abuse my borrowing privileges."

"Oh." She clutched the book to her chest. "How long?"

"Maybe a year?" Kakashi sighed, like he was tired at just the thought of it.

She stared at her bare toes which were painted bright red. "That's a long time," she whispered. No more dinners. No more debates about who was secretly a traitor or which character would come back from the dead. The year ahead seemed so dull and empty the more she thought about it. Without thinking, the next words slipped out of her. "I'll miss you."

They both froze.

Sakura's face was definitely red now. No doubt about it. She stammered, trying to save the situation. How could she be so stupid? She'd just ruined everything she'd worked so carefully to build. She couldn't meet his eyes to see his discomfort.

"Ah." He shifted his weight. She heard the scratch of his hair and cloth as he rubbed the back of his neck.

There was a hand on her head.

Then he was gone.

She stood there, for the longest time, willing herself not to dissolve into tears while he was still within hearing distance. Or however far away he'd decided to poof himself, until she couldn't do it anymore and crouched down, hiding her face in her arms.

Way to go, Haruno. So much for moving past feelings of inadequacy.


	3. Chapter 3

It was six months before Sakura saw Kakashi again. Be careful what you wish for, as the clichéd saying went.

Her sensible sneakers pounded against the hospital linoleum as she flew down the hallway. When she came in for her morning shift, another doctor informed her that Kakashi's team had checked into the Intensive Care Unit the night before. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her when she found him, lying in the bed, his face as pale as his hair. Tubes hooking him up to life support ran up and down his body like vines sprouting over ruins. The steady beat of the heart rate monitor grew louder in her head the longer she stared at him, not quite believing what was in front of her.

This couldn't be happening. Kakashi was the best. She'd seen him bleed his guts out and make jokes about it. Now, he couldn't even breathe without the help of a machine. Distantly, she noticed that they'd also cut away his mask so that they could fit the respirator over his face. She choked back a sob. His features exposed under the harsh fluorescent lights were stark, the shadows deeply carved, like bones bleached beneath the desert sun.

"Sakura?" Yamato interrupted her internal breakdown. She'd found out some time ago that he had left on the same mission as Kakashi. He stood by the window, his arm in a sling, not because it was broken, but because half of it was missing. If he was anyone else, she'd be horrified because most people couldn't grow back entire limbs like he could. All she felt instead was relief that he was standing on his own. From what she'd heard, most of Kakashi's team had returned looking like walking pieces of raw meat.

She pressed her palm into the space below her eye, hiding the tear that had been about to fall. "Yamato-san. I didn't see you there. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Ambush. None of us would have made it out alive if not for Kakashi. He was…he was captured while covering for the rest of us." Yamato's fist clenched. "We extracted him from their torture rooms in the end, but he put himself into a coma even before that."

"This is self-induced?" This news caught her attention. That could effectively block out attempts at interrogation if he had enough mental guards up. Jutsus like that, however, ran the risk of putting the mind to sleep. Permanently. Of course, this idiot would rather die than betray Konoha. She leaned over and brushed some of the hair on his forehead.

"They're telling me that he's stabilizing enough to take off the life support, but they're not sure how long he'll be out."

Sakura took the clipboard from the end of Kakashi's bed, scanning the information with a measure of relief. That should have been the first thing she'd done instead of losing it merely at the sight of him. It wasn't as bad as it looked. She glanced at him. He'd live, but that wasn't the problem anymore.

"There was one more thing they found on him before they healed it. It was the character for 'sakura' cut into his arm. I was hoping it meant you knew something about what he did." Yamato walked over and lifted the blanket, revealing a freshly healed mark that vaguely looked like her name. There was blatant curiosity on his face, seeking an explanation for something that looked like…well what a lover would do as a dying message or to reassure his other half.

She lightly pressed the tips of her fingers onto the scar. "I have no idea," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. To others, it might look like one last, desperate and romantic gesture, but Sakura knew better. Kakashi was not the type. Was it a code of some sort? Was she really supposed to know and she'd been too dense to notice? The possibility that Kakashi might never leave his coma if she didn't figure this out weighed on her.

Yamato dropped into the chair by the bed. "The medic tried untangling whatever jutsu Kakashi has protecting his mind. All he got was some nonsense about the feudal era and people that have no record in Konoha that we could reach."

"Who?" Sakura's back straightened.

"No clan names. Someone named Itsuko…and Kaoru, I think."

"Kurou," she breathed out.

"That sounds more correct." Yamato turned his head to her. "You know who they are?"

She reached down and squeezed Kakashi's hand. "I think I might have an idea."

* * *

Sakura received permission to begin preparing. She dedicated most of her time in the library and when she wasn't there, she practiced with one of Konoha's experts on jutsus of the mind.

"Are you sure I shouldn't try instead of you?" Ino asked after repelling Sakura once again from entering her mind. Sometimes, she was successful, but more times than not, Ino's defenses were too advanced for Sakura to break through

Sakura's hairline was damp with sweat. "It has to be me."

"Because you loooove him?"

"No, because I've read 20 books that he's based off his mental defenses on."

"20 books?" Ino muttered to herself. "Nerds."

"Let's go again." Sakura took her friend's head with both hands on either side. She encountered resistance, which she expected. A pressure built up behind her eyes as she fought against the force of Ino's mind. A roar of indistinguishable voices filled her ears, another tactic meant to break her focus. Then, like a bubble suddenly bursting, she was through.

As Sakura fell into that bright mental space and the world disappeared around her, she faintly heard Ino's voice, warning her, "Don't push yourself too hard, Forehead."

Enormous walls of white marble rose up around her. There was a strip of blue sky above her and nothing else to mark her path or position herself.

"Can't I just smash through any obstacles?" she'd asked Ino before.

"You can, but it won't solve the problem. Knowing Kakashi, the kind of defenses he has up won't be broken so easily. If anything, they might regroup into something else entirely. You have to find the right mental key to unravel the level."

Sakura let out a breath and chose a direction to start. She'd only taken a few steps before the ground began to rumble. She braced herself. The walls around her crept towards each other, closing in on her.

She immediately drew chakra into her feet and legs, leaping as high as she could onto the wall and running up its side. Ino had explained that anything she did while she was within someone's mind, while not physically happening, was still real in some sense. Her abilities could still be used. If Sakura got better, she could even break free of her normal limitations and move through like a lucid dream.

At the top, she saw that the labyrinth dominated the entire landscape, stretching to the horizon. A tower, similar to the one occupied by the Hokage, occupied its center. That looked important. She sped along the top of the walls, vaulting easily when there was a gap. She was halfway to the tower when a distant roar caught her attention. Ino had warned that there would be distractions, but it would be difficult to tell them apart from true defenses that would lead to a deeper level of the mind. The tower seemed too convenient. Ino wasn't the type to make things obvious. She changed course towards the sound.

The walls widened into a circular atrium where an enormous, snarling monster that resembled a badger loomed over an unconscious figure. Claws wider than her waist gouged the ground as it lifted its head to lock its beady eyes on her. It roared again, the vibrations rattling the teeth in her head. With one snap of its powerful jaws, it could easily tear her body in half.

 _It's not real_ , she fiercely told the fear that reared up inside her.

Sakura pushed off, soaring through the air and landing on its back. The gray fur was slippery and hard to grip. She slid a good distance before she could anchor herself. Just as she was about to climb up, the monster swiped at her, connecting solidly with her middle and knocking her off. This was not real, so it seemed unfair that she felt every ounce of pain inflicted. She struggled for her next breath as she plunged through the air. Focus. Push through the pain.

She seized fur, stopping her fall. The muscles in her arms were pulled taut by the sudden strain. The claws nearly reached for her again, but she was ready this time. She threw herself forward. Her target was where the base of the monster's skull and its spine met. She leaned in, never taking her eyes off of it. There was a stumble on her landing, but she'd made it.

The monster snarled, its movements getting wilder as it tried to throw her off. The same technique she used to run along the walls kept her feet braced in her position. Sakura squeezed her gloved hand as fresh chakra filled her with augmented strength. She laced her fingers over her head and hammered down both hands in one swing. It screeched for the last time, disappearing in a swirl of smoke.

The sudden lack of monster caused her to drop. Thankfully, her ninja instincts saved her, neatly landing her on her feet. She bent over, trying to catch her breath. The one thing she'd learned from these sessions was that imaginary fighting took a lot out of you. Was she out of imaginary shape?

The slumped over form the monster had been looming over earlier caught her attention. She padded over to the child, taking her by the shoulder and gently shaking it. Although she realized this child was also not real, the human concern in her was completely fooled by this near perfect illusion of a young girl lying unconscious. "Hey, are you all right?"

The girl's eyes fluttered open, revealing a pale blue shade. Together with the blonde hair, Sakura finally made the connection that this was Ino as she looked a long time ago, before the Sasuke drama, before she became the village bombshell. It was similar to Sakura's own mental image of her friend, which she associated with Ino no matter how old they got. "Nice nap, Pig?" Sakura grinned.

"Took you long enough," Ino replied, stretching, then looking Sakura up and down. It was somewhat disconcerting to hear Ino's very adult sass coming out of her innocent child mouth. "What, you couldn't think of a better outfit?"

"The jounin uniform is super practical." She wasn't exactly worried about aesthetics while she was trying to fight huge monsters.

"You're not allowed to wear that again while you're in my head. Banned. Now, lean down." She reached out as Sakura obliged, index finger pointed, pressing it to the middle of Sakura's generous forehead. Their surroundings burned brighter until Sakura grew aware of the distant sound of children playing outside of Ino's apartment, bringing her back to reality. She took a deep gasp of air as if she'd been underwater.

"The genin academy, a mission to the Sand, and a labyrinth. I was wrong—you do have an imagination." Sakura's head felt like it weighed too much for her neck to bear so she placed it on the table, using her forearm as a rest. Now if she could sleep for a century, that would be perfect.

Ino flipped Sakura's pink locks over her face like a curtain. "The point of me showing you that was that it could be anything inside Kakashi's mind. The important thing is, you have to find him, the real him, hidden beneath it. He's stuck inside his own defenses. It means he's begun to believe they're real." Ino chewed the side of her thumb. She cast a worried look at her friend. "You might get tangled up in his delusion too."

"It has to be me. I don't think anyone else could navigate what he's put up." Sakura lifted her head, shaking the hair back into place, her green eyes serious. Kakashi had put his life and sanity on the line to protect this village, her included. She would give him all she could give. Then, she added. "20 books, Ino."

"Fine, you go. No one who's read 20 books of that crap is in her right mind anyway."


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi was off the life support unit now, his appearance vastly improved by that simple fact alone. She was glad to see the tubes cleared away for the most part. The worst of his wounds were healed, aside from a few residual bruises the medical staff had left to disappear naturally on their own. The rise and fall of his breath was even, peaceful enough that he simply appeared to be sleeping. She'd also found a hospital mask to cover his face. Seeing the mask there helped to make him seem more…normal. Kakashi would care if his face was exposed, but she realized this gesture was mostly for herself. It was one more step to getting him back.

She took a deep breath. Today was the day.

Tsunade and Naruto were present, taking time away from their hectic schedule to visit the Copy Nin.

"Good luck, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, clapping a hand over her shoulder. "Bring our sensei home."

She smiled, even though it felt half-hearted. Why were her boys always leaving her? She noticed that Sasuke was nowhere to be found and had not once been entered into the visitor logs. She tried not to let it bother her. Everyone dealt with crisis in his own way.

Sakura took a seat by Kakashi's bed next to Ino, who remained on standby to monitor the situation. Her hands trembled as she reached out to him. She was charged with getting him out, that alone was enough to fill her with determination to not let him down. He _chose_ her. Maybe she'd been wrong that he considered her the weakest out of their team. At the same time, he was putting the trust in her not to screw it up and leave his brain as putty. She swallowed the knot of pressure forming in her throat, closing her eyes.

Instead of the initial resistance Ino had used to train her, Sakura immediately fell into her new surroundings. It was like taking a step thinking there would be another stair, but there wasn't. She stumbled, catching herself before her face hit the ground. Raucous laughter and conversation filled her ears. She found herself in a busy kitchen, where cooks chopped vegetables at frightening speeds and orders were shouted over the din.

"Aya, get out of the way," another serving girl warned as she hurtled by, her arms ladened with lacquered eating trays towering at least the height of a head above her own.

Sakura jumped from the girl's path just in time. As she regained her bearings, a bottle of sake was shoved into her hands by another server, with directions that it was to go to the party on the upper level.

"Uh, which party?" she asked.

The server shot her a look like she was slow. "The one we've been slaving over for the past five hours, girl. In the Gilded Peony room?"

"Of course. Gilded Peony." Sakura hoped the room would have a sign or something to mark it.

Seeing how the server fully expected her to know which party it was, she assumed it was attended by important people. Important people meant plot points. She smiled brightly as she went out of the kitchen. All right, things were moving along nicely. She was a random background character, true, and it would have been nice to be Itsuko or something, but she would take what she got. Her footsteps slowed. This was familiar to her. It was definitely in one of the books, but there were many scenes that took place in random restaurants. Usually they ended in an attempted assassination—half the time successfully.

She stared at the bottle in her hands. The possibility that someone had poisoned it occurred to Sakura now. Who had given it to her? She tried to recall the man's face and match it up to any character descriptions she'd read before. The only thing distinctive about him was that he had a wart on his nose. Was that important?

She was distracted by the sight of a lady in extravagant robes of and silver silk drift by, laughing with another woman in equally expensive clothes. A sun marked the backs of their collars. The family crest of the Taiyo family. The Taiyo's were one of the factions fighting for control within the Court. She stared at them as they passed, her jaw slack. This was amazing. Characters from her beloved book were walking and talking in front of her. Sosuke or Kurou could be _in_ the very restaurant she was in right now. The thought sent chills up her spine. She'd been focused on saving Kakashi so it hadn't quite hit her until now what it would mean to navigate such a realistic illusion of the book world.

"Aya, if you're not busy then you can scrub the latrines!" an old woman snarled as she marched down the hallway.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura squeaked, bowing. Better to play the scared peasant girl and play it safe, since the other characters seemed to treat her like their personal punching bag. It would also be easier to blend in that way. "I have a task—"

"Then get to it," was the snapped reply, interrupting Sakura's explanation with an impatient wave of the hand. The old woman's generous nostrils widened into perfect circles as she made her order.

Sakura scurried away, finding the stairs just around the corner. She touched the railing, which was carved with images of deer running through the woods. Each individual deer had particular features different from the others. Such detail. She was busy admiring it when she sensed the presence of another server hovering behind her. She laughed nervously, pretending to be out of breath. "I'm so out of shape," she explained in a high voice. The other girl seemed to accept this, moving past Sakura with an eye roll.

Got to get back on task. If she stopped and stared at every little thing, she'd never get Kakashi out.

The upstairs level was one long hallway with private rooms screened by papered doors on either side. Shadows of the rooms' occupants danced on the paper against the soft ivory glow cast by lanterns. The vivid plucks of the shamisen intermingled with the sounds of laughter and conversation. To Sakura's relief, one glance to the frame above the doors confirmed that there were indeed labels for the different rooms. She found the "Gilded Peony," and kneeled in front of it before announcing herself. The door slid back, revealing another serving girl, who took the sake bottle from Sakura's hand.

"How are the guests doing?" Sakura asked when she saw that the other girl was about to close the door in her face. Over the girl's shoulder, she saw guests clapping along as one of them tried to keep up with the complicated steps of the hired dancers. Was Kakashi in there? Had she imagined a flash of white hair?

"You know we're not supposed to chat on the job," the girl replied, casting her eyes down.

"Yui, who's that at the door?" A man ambled over to them, leaning heavily on the serving girl even as she flushed scarlet at the unwanted contact. He cocked his head at the sight of Sakura. "Do you want to join us?"

"O-oh, I couldn't," Sakura said. Yes, yes, step aside you drunken fool.

The leer on his face widened. He reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulling her inside. "Don't be shy, little flower. That is a lovely shade of hair."

Sakura ignored the urge to jerk her wrist out of his grasp and push her fist into his skull. She giggled, smiling shyly as she fluttered her lashes. Her specialty wasn't espionage and if Tsunade saw her, her teacher would have gagged for Sakura's lack of subtlety. However, in Sakura's experience, drunk men didn't care if the woman was faking it.

He made his way to his seat, plopping her in his lap. Even through the considerable amount of material in his robes, she felt the nasty way he pressed his crotch into her ass. The blush on her face, while lending greatly to the illusion she was an inexperienced flower, was more out of fury than embarrassment. Kami, she hoped this one died soon. At least she had a good vantage point of the room, although it was placed far, far from the most important people on the north end, if their rank could be discerned by the amount of jewels on their fingers and precious metals they wore. Table trays were arranged before the guests in a rectangular perimeter, leaving the center open for the dancers. No Kakashi though.

"You can call me Ikki," the man said, holding out his sake cup to her to be refilled. Sitting so close, she smelled every molecule of stink escaping from his mouth.

"Ikki, I love that name," she replied, obliging him the refill. She watched carefully as he gulped it down. If he gagged or suddenly spewed blood, she wanted to dodge as quickly as possible.

He set down the cup, shaking the small table and its contents. "Have you heard of me? I wouldn't be surprised, considering I killed at least ten rebels this past week."

She glanced down at the elaborate sword set at his side, then to the relatively doughy soft fingers make their way up her thigh. She didn't believe he even knew how to wield a toothpick. She widened her eyes. "Oh, how scary! You must have been so brave."

Ikki leaned back. "It would have been scary for some people, but not for me. They were scared shitless just by the sight of me and tried to run." He snorted. "What cowards to die with their backs to me."

"Is that why the lord is celebrating?"

"I guess," Ikki said, his lower lip jutting out. "I would have gotten more recognition if that vagabond hadn't stolen my lord's attention."

He jerked his head toward the man dressed in a practical gray shirt and pants, closely fitted enough not to get in the way in case he had to move, unlike the decadent robes each of the guests had donned. He wore his dark hair in a high ponytail that streamed down his back like a glossy river. He politely sipped the drink he was offered, although it didn't appear to be disappearing no matter how many times he brought it to his lips. His eyes, black like the sky during a new moon, locked with Sakura's. She knew those eyes because she'd spent page after page reading in excruciating detail what they were like.

She gasped as she realized who that must be.

"Sosuke," she breathed.

Ikki's face crumpled in confusion. "Do you know him?"

Before she could answer, figures clad in black swung in through the open windows. Kunai buzzed through the air, hitting flesh with a dull thud. She flattened herself against the ground, dragging Ikki with her because his instinct was to stand up and gawk at the newly dead.

"Protect Taiyo-sama!" someone shouted.

Out of the corner of her vision, Sakura saw a blur of gray cloth as Sosuke fought off the attackers. What should she do in this situation? If she revealed what she could do, would that be the 'wrong' move in the part she played in this scene set up by the jutsu?

An attacker raised a short sword over Ikki, who was frozen in fear. Sakura cursed. She didn't want to save him, but she wasn't going to let him die in front of her when she could do something about it. She grabbed the bottle of sake, the closest thing she could reach, and chucked it expertly at the attacker's throat. He choked, wheezing for air as Sakura rushed at him, stealing his weapon and embedding it in his chest.

"Sosuke, you must stand up!" Taiyo's voice broke through the chaos. His protector lay on the ground, unconscious and blood pooling around him. The assassin flicked blood off of his dagger as he approached the shaking lord.

What the heck Kakashi-that's not in the books! Under no circumstances did Sosuke _die_ , which was surely what would happen if she let things alone.

Sakura sped to Taiyo's attacker, the stolen blade in hand. She caught him by surprise as she sliced through his back. As the man crumpled to his knees, Taiyo stared up at her. His face was drained of color. "W-who are you?"

"Someone who's not here to kill you," she grunted. She went to Sosuke's side, checking his vitals. Still alive.

In the end, the assassins retreated, the surprise attack not having gone at all to their plan. Half of the party guests were dead, but not the man who was their target.

"A doctor, call for a doctor," Taiyo said. It was then that Sakura noticed how young the noble appeared to be. She'd glossed over most of the secondary characters, assuming that they were generic people in the middle of their lives, but he wasn't even older than her.

Sakura kneeled next to Sosuke, opening up his shirt easily since it was held together by cord ties. "Put pressure on the wound," she ordered, not caring who did it.

To her surprise, Taiyo joined her. "How do I do that?"

"Press the cloth over it and keep it firm."

"My lord, you do not have to degrade yourself by touching such unclean—" one of his vassals protested.

"Silence. I can handle at least this much." Taiyo did as Sakura instructed.

Sakura worked on the wounded man all night, reconstructing his damaged organs, healing the ruptured flesh. Thank goodness chakra based healing was normal in the book series (although there were many points where Sakura seriously doubted the author's research.) At some point, they removed Sosuke from the room where the battle had taken place to a different one. When Sakura announced that he would live, Taiyo turned to her. "If you're not here to kill me, then why are you here?"

Sakura wiped her bloodied hands on a cloth. "I'm looking for someone, my lord."

"Tell me who it is. I will grant you aid in thanks for saving my life." The man spoke in such easy commands, even when he was trying to be kind.

She didn't know what name Kakashi would go by in this world. She didn't even know if he would be considered an enemy of Taiyo. "He has white hair and covers one eye. That's all I know of him."

"You describe my half-brother, Kurou. How do you know him?" He turned to her in suspicion.

Sakura blinked.

Oh, no way.


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura paced the length of the room, jumping to press her ear to the papered door every time she heard the smallest shuffle in the hallway outside. Opposite to her, the doors leading to the garden had been pulled back, affording a view of the peaceful landscaping. Colorful koi swam in the pond, their scales reflecting a prism of colors beneath the surface. A breeze caressed a wind chime and it sang out, a single note high and clear.

Sakura's eye twitched.

Here she was, in the home of Lord Taiyo, a man whose wealth wasn't limited by society or even _reality_ , and all she could do was fume about how Kakashi had made _himself_ a main character while relegating her to some no-name background girl. It distinctly reminded her of her kindergarten play where she was given the role of a playing half of a horse. The worst half of a horse, if there was one. When they got out of here, he was going to get an earful.

Footsteps, real ones, not the ones Sakura kept imagining, approached the door. Sakura leapt back to the floor cushion, positioning herself as if she hadn't spent the last few minutes contemplating destroying the perfectly pruned bushes for the fun of letting off steam.

A woman's voice announced, "Kurou-sama will now be entering." The door slid open and the servant scooted out of sight while still kneeling. Kakashi appeared in the doorway, dressed in robes that draped itself on his body a little too well.

"You wanted to meet with me?" he asked as he strode into the room, taking his place across from her.

The sound of his voice shook her. Almost immediately, she forgot her irritation and petty vendettas. She'd missed the sound of his voice. The smooth, rich tone he produced; the calming way he spoke, always a bit amused, making her want to smile. The last time she'd heard it was six months ago—a lifetime. She must have been staring at him because he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

She remembered who she was supposed to be. She was some peasant girl. He was the half-brother of a lord, even if the character was considered an illegitimate son by society. Gathering her hands in front of her, she bowed her head in formal greeting. "My name is Sakura." If she was going to be some random character, it didn't really matter what name she used, did it? Sorry, Aya.

"You have my thanks for saving my brother, although he should have known the rebels might try to retaliate while he was vulnerable." Kakashi took a pot of tea off the small table at his side, pouring a cup and offering it to her.

Sakura took it, never taking her eyes off of him. He was really in it deep. He wasn't even wearing his mask, as the real Kurou wouldn't have a reason to do so. With a jerk, she realized the sharingan that was part of his claim to fame was missing too. Two, whole and unscarred gray-blue eyes studied her. This was the first opportunity she'd ever had to look at him fully, without stealing a glance while he was eating, and she hated it. He was someone untouched by Kakashi's past. No flicker of recognition passed over his face. She preferred his usual appearance any day, with all that he hid from her, over the man before her who looked at her with the detached interest of a stranger.

"The honor was mine," she replied, feeling hollow.

"What did you need to see me for?"

"I have a message. From the Village of the Hidden Leaf." Sakura spoke slowly, testing every word for his reaction.

He frowned. "Hidden Leaf? I don't believe I've heard of it."

Damn it. It was too much to hope that simply saying the name of their home village would snap him out of it. "My father was the village leader. He was a man whose life you saved many years ago. He wished to repay that debt before he died, but he could not. I am here to pledge my service to you in his stead." She bowed low again, holding her breath. Unlike most shinobi, lying wasn't her forte. Would he buy it?

"What was your father's name?"

"Umino Iruka," she said, blurting out the first male name her mind could come up with, since Sakura's own mother decided to keep her real father's name a secret from her. Wow, did she have daddy issues about Iruka-sensei? She squirreled away that horrifying thought for another time.

Kakashi shook his head. "I can't say I remember him, I'm sorry. I also don't think he would want you to waste your life on me. There are many out there who would gladly see me dead."

"Please-I've trained for this. It is the only way I think I can appease his soul." _Don't send me away_ , she begged silently. She needed to be at his side.

"I will not be here for much longer, as I am leaving tomorrow for the capital. The journey will be dangerous."

She raised her head, locking eyes with him. "I will not, nor will I ever, be a burden on you. I can hold my own. I can _fight_."

He tilted his head, considering her, holding her gaze until she looked down again. His silence was killing her.

Her mind raced to put together her next move. Kurou was still living within Lord Taiyo's home, which meant the relationship between them had yet to crumble too much. They became estranged in a later part of the series. That disgusting fool she'd duped at the party had told her it was some kind of celebration for the defeat of rebels. That wasn't really helpful, since there were a few different rebellion factions that popped up, some with confusing names like 'Red Sun' and 'Red Dawn.'

Wait a minute, where was Itsuko at this point in the story?

"You may do as you wish. Can you be ready to leave by morning?" Kakashi interrupted her thoughts.

Relief flooded through Sakura. She wanted to punch the air and throw her arms around him, but knew that certainly wouldn't fly. Still, she couldn't hide the smile spreading on her face. "I can. Thank you, Kurou-sama."

After her meeting with Kakashi, she did some recon about the forthcoming trip. It was a journey to the capital city to ask the Empress for aid from the rebels causing trouble in the countryside. This information felt like a stone sitting in her gut. No, no, no. That couldn't be right. That meant this was the very beginning, before Kurou or Sosuke met Itsuko. The book's heroine was off at some temple right now, completely unaware that her story was about to begin. Furthermore, Sosuke was meant to accompany Kurou and should be present when they met Itsuko. Yet, when she visited Sosuke to check up on him, the bodyguard was still in no shape to be meeting the last third of their epic love triangle.

Sosuke glared at her from his futon, which was the only thing he was physically capable of doing at this point. Chakra might heal the wounds, but there was still a lot of recovery the body had to go through if the injury was nearly fatal as Sosuke's had been. There was also likely a lot of nerve damage, seeing how he couldn't move. She could speed it up with some secondary healing, hopefully.

"You are the pink haired healer who saved me?" he demanded. His tone of voice implied he wasn't pleased by this at all.

She crossed her arms. After spending hours playing to the rigid formality that the book society would deem proper, she had no intention of treating Sosuke as her better. From his background, she knew he came from nothing and it was safe to relax a little around him. "That's me. You're welcome."

"Where are you from? Why were you there last night in disguise?"

"I had business with Kurou-sama and I was hoping he would be at the party. I didn't have a way to seek an audience by ordinary means. It was luck I was there to save the both of you and Lord Taiyo."

Sosuke's eyes narrowed. "So what would you have done if the assassins hadn't attacked?

"I guess I would have figured something out," she said, smirking.

"I don't trust you," he stated flatly.

"That's all right. I came here to make sure you can stand for tomorrow's journey."

He pressed himself deeper into the pillows cushioning his head, as if he could disappear into them. " _Don't touch me_."

Was Sosuke this spiky in the books? She rolled her eyes, ignoring him and approaching anyway. She'd had her fair share of reluctant patients. They always got the care they needed, whether they wanted it or not. Naruto had the lovely experience of trying to run away on an improperly healed femur, but she got to him. And then she broke his leg again. To heal it.

Because she cared.

"Look. You need to be there with Kurou-sama tomorrow, right?" she asked, adding more honey to her tone. She gestured to his immobile form. "You can't do that if you can't even stand."

"That's none of your concern." He snorted.

"Just let me help you." She grit her teeth, kneeling next to his futon.

"Are you hard of hearing? No!" He thrashed his head, which was less threatening than he probably intended since the rest of his body was trapped beneath a fluffy duvet. "I won't have a potential spy touching my person!"

"If I wanted you dead, why would I have wasted all of my energy trying to save you?" She threw her hands into the air.

His lips puckered as if there was something sour in his mouth. "I don't know," he admitted. "It could be part of your plot."

"Would someone with a face as cute as mine be a spy?" She smiled her sweetest smile, capable of forcing even the Copy Nin to give her the last of mochi in the box.

"That's _exactly_ who would be a spy."

She wanted to smack her forehead then use that same hand to smack his forehead. This man was somewhat…different from the Sosuke she'd imagined. The smile on her face froze and she balled her hands in her lap to keep from strangling him. "It won't take long, I promise."

"Is there anyone outside? Take this wretched woman out of here!" His shouting drew a servant to the door, who Sakura shot a dirty look at. Did the servants have to be so servile?  
"Fine." She stood, dusting her hands. "But you better be there tomorrow."

As she walked out of the room, she noticed him mouthing the word "spy." Unbelievable.

She didn't want to think about what it would mean if Kurou left without Sosuke. That would a different story all together if one of the main characters wasn't even present for the story. Her ace in the hole so far had been knowing exactly what was going to happen, but this—this was going to be a problem.

#

Sakura slept terribly, waking up with dark circles beneath her eyes. Not that she could tell, because she discovered the mirrors were little more than highly polished pieces of bronze that warped her appearance like a fun house mirror. She brushed her hair the best she could and tied it up out of the way. She grumbled to herself. There were some things she'd already seen that would be considered historically inaccurate. Why the hell couldn't she have a decent mirror?

Part of the reason she slept badly was that she tried to wait until the dead of night to sneakily heal the stubborn Sosuke, but rather quickly discovered he refused to sleep, reciting poetry to himself to keep awake. She listened for about an hour to a poem about an assassin who never slept before dozing off herself, still crouched by the window. When she jerked awake later, the drone of his voice was still going strong. While she sympathized that he felt vulnerable, his lack of sleep was probably why he wasn't recovering faster. Whatever. She'd figure out this stupid mind jutsu without him.

The other problem was that the plot wasn't falling into place as it should have been. Sosuke should never have almost died. He should also be going on this journey, which he clearly was not going to do now. Furthermore, she was now added to the mix, someone who wasn't in the books at all. Before all of this, she'd thought she'd have to fight something or answer some trivia questions. Kakashi was just going through the book page by page and changing whatever he felt like.

She had a hunch that Itsuko was the key. Whether it was to get her and Kurou together or save her from another mistake in the plot. Irritation gnawed at her at the thought of the first option, where basically she'd be helping her former teacher hook up with a fictional character.

Sakura tightened the knot on her clothes, a fresh set given to her to replace the bloodied server uniform she'd shown up in. In a sack tied to her back were extra clothes and some clean rags to rip into bandages if needed. Having come into this world with literally nothing but the clothes on her back, she was going to have to depend on Kakashi for other supplies.

She met Kakashi at the back entrance of the compound. He was dressed in simple travel clothes, nothing to indicate his noble relations. A straw hat covered his hair, which he touched in greeting as she came up to him. She'd assumed that Kakashi would be late, but apparently he was committed to being Kurou in _every_ way.

"Is it just going to be us?" Sakura asked, scanning the area.

"Kurou was supposed to accompany me, but his condition was not ideal when I went to see him this morning. He tried to insist on going despite barely being able to keep his eyes open."

She forced a laugh. "He doesn't like or trust me."

"Yes," Kakashi said, nodding. "He believes you are a spy. Although if you do turn out to be one, I'd like to point out my family would never pay a ransom for me nor are you going to learn anything interesting by following me around. You'd be better of sneaking about in the compound."

"Maybe I find you interesting anyway." She smiled up at him.

He coughed into his fist. "Let's get going."

As they set off on foot, Sakura was pleasantly reminded of old team missions that were more like field trips through the countryside. They came out of the town into farmland as far as the eye could see, green rice paddies dotted with the occasional thatched roof cottage. She hummed a little song to herself, enjoying the sunshine.

"That's an interesting tune. Is it a popular song in your village?" Kakashi asked.

"Very popular." _In the clubs_ , she added silently. It was titled, 'Booty Hotline,' which she thought if she told Kakashi in his current state might make him clutch his pearls in shock. He didn't like it even when he was normal, having called it, "The worst thing I have ever heard, please never make me listen to it again. I am old. So, so old."

She giggled. Okay, maybe he didn't say that last part about being old.

"Something funny?" he asked.

She smiled, looking to the distance. "Just thinking about a friend. He didn't really like that song."

"I can't see why not. Are there words to it?"

"Uh…." She trailed. There were words, just not words she felt comfortable saying out loud. "No there aren't. Just a tune."

"It's sort of familiar to me. I must have heard it while traveling elsewhere—but I could have sworn it did have words." He frowned, thinking. "Lascivious words."

Those were prim words, coming from a man who read porn in public. "Must have been some other song." However, her curiosity was piqued. He remembered the song? Interesting.

"Well, I know you think it's not the same song, but if it is, I could understand why your friend didn't like it."

"He was just too old to appreciate it."

"It's not about being old." He shook his head. "I recall it was extremely rude about women."

"Or you know, empowering to women because the singer worshipped them."

"Ah, so there _are_ words to that song. Tell me what they are. I can almost remember it—I just need a clue."

Sakura's face went blank. Was this it? Would Kakashi's salvation really be, 'Booty Hotline?' He would totally hate that. A sly grin grew on her lips. " _On the dance floor—whoa, I see you there, moving, girl. I can't handle it, the way you move your hips and how you twirl,_ " she crooned a few lines softly. She bounced from side to side, trying to stave off the embarrassment of singing out loud. She could feel her cheeks going hot. Her voice was decent, in her opinion, but her only audience tended to be her house plants.

"Who is this observer and why is he gawking at this poor girl instead of introducing himself?"

"He's just appreciating how she's dancing."

Kakashi made a noise that said he still didn't agree. He really didn't like that song, even as Kurou. This was amazing. " _Booty Hotline! Booty Hotline! Calling you up, you're all mine!"_ she practically shouted, overcoming her initial shyness. If singing 'Booty Hotline' would bring him back, she'd do it on top of the Hokage Monument

He clapped his hands over his ears. "Have you gone mad? What is a 'booty?'"

She doubled over, laughing. To anyone walking by, she would look insane, cackling while Kakashi slowly backed away from her. Rein it back, Haruno. It was fun teasing her former teacher, but what if it really kicked her out of the jutsu for not playing along? That sobered her up. He was just looking at her like she'd lost it, not with any kind of recognition. "I'm sorry. I'm just teasing." She wiped a tear of laughter.

"Do you promise, on your father's soul, not to sing that song again around me?" Kakashi maintained a safe distance from her.

"On my father's soul." She crossed her heart, not adding that she didn't really care what happened to that old bastard's ghost.

His brows drew together as he nodded slowly. "Good. Now, please answer my question: What is a booty?"

#

The sun was nearly setting. Despite being bone tired from walking all day, there was a spring in Sakura's step. In the book, Kurou and Sosuke stayed at a temple on the first night, which was where they met Itsuko. She hoped that meant that'd they could leave the jutsu soon. Kakashi's stupid genius mind insisted on realism, down to the travel grime that coated Sakura's skin that made her long desperately for a bath.

"Come on, we need to find a place for the night," she urged to her lagging companion.

"There isn't another village for another day or so. We'll have to make do with the ground, most likely." He didn't seem particularly concerned. If anything, he walked slower as he scoped out a nice rock to use as a pillow.

She already had a strike on her record for messing up with Kurou, she wasn't about to let Itsuko slip out of her fingers too. Her perfectionist tendencies were grating on her like a knife. "There's a temple we can rest in if we pass those hills."

"Is there? But I've already found a fine rock for you too." He patted the stone.

"You can carry it with you if you like," she said dryly.

There was a glint in his eye at the challenge. He picked it up, smiling as he moved past her. She followed him until he stopped in his tracks with a high pitched shriek and he flung the rock into the grasses.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"The rock wanted its freedom." He wiped his hands on the front of his pants vigorously.

"A bug crawled on your hand, didn't it?"

"It was longer than my entire arm," he protested as her snickers grew to full on guffaws.

She stopped her giggling, staring at his hand, her eyes wide. His attention snapped to the spot she was staring at, where there was absolutely nothing. He let his hand drop and glared at her. "Not funny."

"Made you look."

"This is where we part. Farewell forever."

"Aw, wait. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."

"I don't have _feelings_ ," he said, his chin drawing back into his neck and multiplying. He refused to look at her.

The day was turning out to be a success in Sakura's book. He might not remember her, but this was the Kakashi she knew. A huge dork hiding behind a veneer of cool. He spoke to her more easily than before, forgetting that they were supposed to be strangers. She secretly reveled in it. This was more than he talked even in real life.

He endured her teasing until they reached the temple. A woman who came out to greet them looked with uncertainty back and forth between the pair, one of whom couldn't seem to stop giggling and the other whose pout made a near perfect half circle on his face.

"We are travelers from Lord Taiyo's home. Do you have a place we could stay the night?" Kakashi asked, shooting Sakura a dirty look. "Preferably separately."

"There are a few empty rooms you can use. For a small donation, I can provide you with a meal as well." The priestess bowed. "My name is Itsuko."

"Yes, that would be excellent." Kakashi pressed a few coins into her hand.

"I'm a little short on coin. I'll go hunt for my food," Sakura spoke up.

"Nonsense. I'm employing you—in a sense. The money should be enough to cover both of our meals." Kakashi glanced at the priestess for confirmation, which he got.

Sakura stared at Itsuko. The heroine wore her chestnut hair tied low on her back, the tail sweeping the top of her thighs. Her skin almost glowed, like a pearl in the light. Thick lashes framed deep green eyes that made Sakura's own shade look sickly by comparison. Sakura also suspected, despite the loose robes Itsuko wore, there was a generous chest hiding beneath the cloth from the brief flash she saw when Itsuko turned. The priestess gave them a small, sweet smile as she asked them to follow her that made even Sakura's heart beat faster. Kakashi did not stand a chance. His mind had created a dream woman for him to fall in love with—no wonder he didn't want to leave.

Sakura found her breath again as they entered the temple. The air was thick with the smell of incense burning from the urn in front of the main shrine. The sun had set, leaving the only light the small lantern Itsuko carried through the hallway, casting shadows on the cracked and chipping walls. An eerie silence settled over them.

Sakura picked at her food that was shortly brought to her, thinking again about Itsuko's appearance. So that was the kind of woman Kakashi wanted. She sighed, suddenly feeling every ounce of weariness she'd gathered during the day. She mechanically chewed her rice and fish, not tasting any of it.

The rooms they were given had an adjoining sliding door instead of a wall between them. She heard Kakashi murmur from behind the paper, "Something doesn't feel right."

His instincts were correct. Sakura had led them willingly into a trap. A group of rebels were on their way. It was only fair to let him stay alert since she couldn't see the harm in it. "I suggest taking turns on a watch," she said.

"I will take the first one then."

Sakura settled on the woven mat floor, using her pack as a pillow. She only meant to rest her eyes for a minute, but must have dozed off. The next thing she knew, Kakashi was shaking her awake. "Sensei?" she asked, stretching her stiff limbs.

"Sensei? No, it's me, Kurou."

"Right." She sat up, remembering where she was again. "What's wrong?"

"I heard a voices. There are people hiding in this temple."

"That's bad," Sakura said with her astute observation skills. Her mouth split in a yawn. A scream pierced the air, jolting her fully conscious.

The two hurried into the hallway. They found the source of the scream in the main shrine area. Despite Kakashi's sincere belief he was the illegitimate son of a feudal lord, he was able to maintain suspiciously ninja-like sneaking as they made their way to the large screen dominating the back wall of the room.

"Why is Taiyo's bastard brother here?" a voice demanded.

"I don't know," Itsuko replied. "This is a sacred space. Please leave before the spirits are angered."

"Bitch, you don't order the Red Daggers around," the same voice snarled, followed by the crack of a hand striking. From their hiding place, Sakura could see at least twenty rebels gathered around the priestess. "Lure him out here. We'll slaughter him like the dog he is."

Itsuko lifted her chin, an angry mark blooming on her cheek. "No."

"Then we'll go down tonight and burn down the village instead."

"That's quite enough." Kakashi stepped out of the shadows. "You wanted to see me and now I'm here. Do what you will with me, but leave the priestess alone."

The leader barked a laugh. "So you're the bastard?"

Kakashi's dark eye narrowed. While the attention was on him, Sakura flashed a bit of light with her dagger into Itsuko's lap to get her attention. The priestess turned her head to see Sakura half-hidden by the screen, motioning to come closer. Itsuko glanced at the rebels before backing away slowly in Sakura's direction.

"You stay here while he and I take care of it," Sakura whispered when Itsuko was behind the screen.

"There are too many of them."

"Trust me." Sakura was about to slip into a better vantage point when a hand clapped on her shoulder.

"There is another one hiding—" the man didn't get the chance to finish before Sakura's fist threw him back.

"Run!" Sakura urged. She ducked the blades swung her way, punching and kicking guts while she was low. She fought her way to Kakashi's side, until they were back to back.

"I see you're skills weren't exaggerated," he said.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

They naturally broke into a rhythm of movement that only came with years of working together on a team. Kakashi was still there, beneath all of this nonsense. Her foot landed squarely in a rebel's face before transitioning into a smooth sweep, knocking another off his balance. One managed to get a lucky hit on her shoulder, but she returned it ten fold, pushing chakra into her arms and bowling a path through the swarm.

Kakashi called out her name, taking hold of her forearms. She understood, bracing herself before he swung her, allowing her to smash her feet down on body parts in a devastating arc. When she landed, they grinned at each other, breathing quickly.

"Stop!" the rebel leader called out, drawing everyone's attention mid movement. Itsuko was locked in his arm, the sharp edge of a blade held to her throat. "One wrong step and her blood will paint this shrine red."

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, her heart still pumping hard from the fight. He let his arms fall to his side. His jaw clenched.

"You," the leader indicated to Sakura. "Who are you supposed to be, traveling with the Taiyo bastard?"

"Someone who's going to end this story," she replied, charging up her strength. She'd blast the floor from under his feet before he could—

The tip of a sword burst through Itsuko's chest. It had been plunged through the back of the leader, skewering them both. Blood dripped from Itsuko's lips as she looked down in shock. The sword was withdrawn by the attacker, who disappeared before Sakura or Kakashi could reach him. The attacker wore a white dog mask, the eyes and ears painted with red. The exact style of Kakashi's former ANBU disguise. Ice spread on the back of her neck. What the hell was going on here?

Itsuko and the rebel crumpled to the ground, shaking, foam dribbling out of their mouths. The blade had been dipped in poison. Sakura cursed as she pressed her hands flat over the wound, releasing her chakra into Itsuko, but she realized that the poison was blocking the energy points. Itsuko's life poured out as her beautiful eyes began to glaze.

"No," Sakura hissed, working as fast as she could to unblock the chakra points. She didn't notice that the world was going brighter around her until she sat up with a gasp, back in the hospital room. Disconcerted, she looked back at her friends who had been waiting for her. The heart rate monitor beeped steadily by the bed. Kakashi's eyes remained closed, his chest rising and falling.

She had failed.

* * *

Note: This chapter became a little longer than usual...hahaha...Also, I posted this message on my drabbles, but I'm looking for any prompts my readers can send me! I'd love to hear what you guys come up with. I'll post my responses onto Sweet Cherries with the name of the user who sent it to me. xoxo


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto nodded as the group listened to Sakura debrief them on the situation. A little more than three hours had passed since she'd entered the jutsu, which according to her had lasted more than a day inside Kakashi's mind. She detailed an amazing world, populated by people from the books. Her eyes lit up as she described the restaurant she'd initially fallen into, describing the smells of the kitchen and the buzz of activity.

Naruto nodded again, then asked the critical question he'd been holding in all this time. "So…If it's so real, did you have to poop at any point?"

"What?" Sakura stared at him, her face like stone. A flush of red began from her neck and rose to her hairline.

"Ugh, gross, but yea, I was wondering that too," Ino joined in.

" _No_." Sakura punched the future Hokage's shoulder. "They don't mention poop in the books. You guys are disgusting!"

"It's a natural function of the body!" he protested.

Sakura pretended to gag, her entire body shuddering. "Naruto, please think about what you're asking right now."

"Well, he's a gross pervert! Maybe he—"

"Shutupshutupshutup!"

"In more serious matters," Tsunade interrupted, "There's a problem, Sakura."

"Shishou, just give me another chance. I can get it right this time—I was caught off guard by the—"

"Yes, yes. The 'specter,' as you called it. Likely a secondary defense Kakashi created and I admit it's going to be an issue too. However, that's not what I meant: when I checked his status, there was a tremendous strain on his system. His brain might not be able to handle the stress of maintaining the jutsu without becoming damaged if he doesn't come out of it within a few days."

"I don't understand. A jutsu like this could be held indefinitely," Sakura said, recalling her research.

Ino spoke up, "For a normal defense. But you just described something I've never even heard before—we don't even know how far the world extends or what is happening beyond what you can see. It's an understatement to say that he's overextended himself.

Sakura went pale. She looked to Kakashi, lying on the bed, physically there but still lost to them. "Will he die?" she whispered.

"If he doesn't, then he might not be…the same." Tsunade reached out and squeezed Sakura's arm.

Sakura stared at her feet. Kakashi was a genius. He'd been a genius his entire life and seemed to take his incredible intelligence for granted at times. It broke her heart to imagine him, unable to use his brain to the fullest. How frustrating that would be for a man used to running mental circles around anyone he'd ever met.

Her breath hitched as tears threatened to fall. She hated how easily she cried. She blinked the moisture away quickly, turning her eyes upward. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's try again."

She pivoted, taking a few steps toward the bed, before stumbling. Tsunade caught her in time. "You're not in the best condition yourself. It took a lot out of you to push through that jutsu the first time."

"I can do this." Sakura gritted her teeth.

"We can let Ino give it a try."

Sakura pulled away, standing on her own. "Maybe if this was anyone else. But Kakashi-sensei put himself into a mental fortress large enough to eat away at his mind. He even might be losing control of it." She thought of the specter again, the blank eyes of the white porcelein mask staring back at her. She shook her head. "I admit I was being selfish before when I insisted on being the one to go, but now I know for sure that it can only be me. One of the main characters would have been killed if not for me. Then the jutsu kicked me out when another main character died, making it impossible to reconcile with the book. It _wants_ me to save them and get the story right as much as possible."

Tsunade leveled her gaze on her apprentice. "You're sure about this? I'm worried you'll be hurting yourself."

"I'll be fine, shishou." She smiled, trying to reassure the other woman, but it felt forced. She balled her hands into fists behind her back, hiding the tremble that wouldn't go away.

The Godaime's keen eyes didn't miss that small movement, but she refrained from commenting. She sighed. Fools in love, or so the saying went.

#

As the server with the multiple lacquered boxes came by, Sakura offered to take them off her hands. The girl gratefully accepted, scurrying off before Sakura could change her mind. Sakura left the kitchen with them, neatly sidestepping the man approaching her with a sake bottle who now scowled and went to look for another drudge to push the task on.

She went to the party upstairs, cheerfully bypassing the startled serving girl at the door, who protested, "The food orders have already been brought in."

"Compliments of the owner," Sakura replied, passing out the trays. She 'accidentally' stepped on the hand of the man she'd used in the first round to get in.

"Watch it," he snarled.

"Oh, sooooorry."

She took her sweet time until the assassins broke in. Then, she went straight for Sosuke, fighting off his would-be opponents before they reached him. He was actually doing fine on his own until _he_ showed up.

The specter was just suddenly there, appearing during the brief second Sakura looked away from Sosuke. There was a shock of distinctive silver hair behind the mask. She hadn't imagined it. It really was like Kakashi during his ANBU days. ANBU identities were obviously supposed to be kept a secret, but who else would wear a dog mask and also have that hair? It wasn't a very good disguise for anyone who knew him.

She gripped her stolen dagger. "Kakashi-sensei, why are you doing this?" she asked, more to herself than to him.

The masked face turned to her briefly, regarding her with those blank eyes, as if he had heard her. The specter released shurikens in a wide arc at her. She jumped back. The pointed metal hit the mat in successive thuds. The last one missed her by a hair, only avoided by a sudden back flip on her part. By the time she regained her footing, he had already resumed his attack on Sosuke.

Two assailants came at her, distracting her from the other battle. She prayed Sosuke could hold on for longer. She jammed her dagger into a rib cage. Warm blood ran down her arm, dyeing the ends of her sleeves. She pressed her foot down on the dead man's gut, leveraging the blade free, and butting the end of the handle into another's nose. The cartilage crunched followed by a desperate howl. She finished him off with a clean strike through the neck. More blood rained down, drenching her hair and running into her eyes. She ruthlessly wiped her face on her shoulder and renewed her course to Sosuke.

The last few leaps, she directed chakra to her legs, launching herself on the specter's back. He must have sensed her coming because he spun, kicking her middle. All of the air escaped from her lungs at the impact. She landed, catching herself with her free hand, wheezing.

Sosuke used the momentary distraction, slashing his dagger upwards. The specter jerked and dissipated in curls of smoke. Could it be a clone? Sakura cursed. Immediately, she released a chakra scan of the area and outside of the building, she found what she was looking for. She rushed to the window, catching a pale flash as the real specter vanished.

The wood splintered beneath her hands as she crushed it in frustration. She didn't have time to pursue when another of the assassins forcefully reminded her she was still in the middle of a fight.

The ending was somewhat changed, now that Sosuke remained uninjured. He approached her as she stood over the bodies of her fallen foes. "Who sent you?"

Her shoulders were heaving from the exertion. With no enemies left, she felt safe to drop her dagger to show she was not a danger to him. It was an empty gesture, but he didn't know that. "I've traveled far to pleadge my services to Kurou-sama. I thought he would be here at this party."

"What business do you have with my half-brother?" Lord Taiyo rose, straightening his robes.

Sosuke was still wary of her, insisting multiple times to his liege that she couldn't be trusted. However, it seemed that being in a less vulnerable position made him more willing to accept her presence. Sakura repeated her actions from before with an edge of impatience she hoped would not bleed through.

Later that night, as she soaked in the bath, she leaned her head against the wood, frowning. Now, of all times, Naruto's words came back to her. Obviously, she wasn't using the bathroom by some respect for her dignity in the jutsu, but she became highly aware of the fact that she was _naked_. She also took a bath the last time after the fight. She ducked into the water, bubbles rising from her breath. Could Kakashi see this? Was he watching like it was a dream?

For that alone, she felt like smashing through the ground until she found the real Kakashi and rip him a new one. That pervert! She dipped lower into the water, squeezing her eyes shut.

She heard the creak of the door opening, although the water obscured her vision. She wasn't alarmed, having been told before by the servant that it was the women's turn to bathe during this time. The common bath used to soak after washing was immense, able to fit many people at once, unlike her cramped tub at home which barely fit her and only if she kept her legs bent. She was the last one left after the others had finished, choosing to relish the hot water for a little longer, knowing that baths would become a rarity in the near future.

The water rippled as the person joined her. She came up for air with a gasp, because beneath the surface she had seen something she needed to confirm. Something that looked _strangely_ extraneous between that person's legs. She shrieked, splashing water on the stunned Sosuke.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, reaching for her towel. "Stop staring!"

Sosuke clapped his hands over his eyes. "I thought the women had finished bathing!"

"Obviously not!"

"Yes, I see that."

"What do you see?" she growled.

"Nothing. I see nothing," he amended.

"I'm going to get out. If I catch you taking your hands off before I'm gone, I'll cut your balls off, grind them into dust, put them into tea, and force you to drink them." She raised herself out of the bath, carefully wrapping herself in the towel. The towel clung to her wet skin, since it was just a rectangle of cotton cloth unlike the fluffy terrycloth towels at home. Damn Kakashi and his inconveniently selective insistence on historical accuracy. She was satisfied, at least, when she saw Sosuke squeeze his legs together at the idea of the threat.

Just as she was about to reach the door, Sosuke spoke, "Whatever it is you plan on doing to Kurou-sama—I won't allow it. I will protect this family."

Sosuke's intense loyalty was understandable. A companion novella had covered his tragic backstory, where as a young orphan, he had been saved by the elder, now deceased, Lord Taiyo, from starvation and then informally adopted into the family.

"You don't have to worry. I'm here to protect someone too," she said softly.

She escaped into the changing room. As she put on the clean yukata left for her, another thought occurred to her. Everything in here was a product of Kakashi's imagination.

Including Sosuke's—

Her cheeks flamed as she wrapped the clothing tighter around herself, unable to stop herself from giggling like a school child at the sound of a bad word. She could picture Kakashi rolling his eyes, telling her she should grow up.

#

The 'Booty Hotline' incident, under no circumstances, could be repeated with Sosuke around. He and Sakura pointedly avoided looking at each other as they left the Taiyo compound with Kakashi.

Sakura was the type of person, within a group, who got a conversation going. Kakashi and Sosuke were not. Without her, they walked in silence until Kakashi commented, "Was there a disagreement between the two of you?"

"No," both of them replied at once.

"Ah, that's good then. I was worried there for a second."

Silence.

More silence.

Sakura chewed her nails ragged by sundown, desperate to stave off the boredom. Kakashi dodged attempts at her making conversation when she did eventually try, frustrating her. Sosuke was a no-go in her opinion. Every time they accidentally made eye contact, both of them flinched involuntarily. At least they reached the temple much faster than before. Kakashi dawdled less when there were two people nagging him to speed it up. The few times Sosuke did speak was to agree with Sakura about the pace. Kakashi sighed as they climbed the steps, mumbling something about it not being a race.

Itsuko came out to greet them, just as stunning as before. Although Sakura expected Itsuko to be whole and unharmed again, it was hard to forget someone who had died beneath your own hands, especially when one of your purposes in life was to heal people. Sosuke was transfixed on the priestess, in love with her on first sight. Sakura's lips twisted wryly. That was actually part of what drew her to him in the books, how certain he had been of his affections and how he didn't beat around the bush making them known. He walked ahead of them at Itsuko's side, conversing with her.

Sakura leaned into Kakashi and whispered, "Someone's taken a fancy."

"This is an interesting turn of events. I never knew Sosuke could take notice of a woman." Kakashi rubbed his chin.

"Well, she is beautiful." She glanced at Itsuko wistfully. Kakashi wouldn't have imagined her this way if he didn't think that.

"Yes, she is."

Sakura's foot misstepped and she made a tiny stumble. He caught her. "Careful," he said.

"Thanks," she murmured.

After they were given their rooms, Sakura volunteered to help Itsuko prepare the meals. She figured it would be the easiest way to keep an eye on Itsuko and make sure nothing happened. Hopefully, Kakashi and Sosuke could take care of each other, although the latter looked put out that he hadn't been quick enough to offer to help.

"We should eat our meal together," Sosuke said, not wanting to be outdone.

"Thank you. I'd appreciate the company," Itsuko said.

The kitchen was built into the back of the temple. Itsuko unlatched the metal door beneath the stove and sparked the kindling already inside it. "It's been a while since we've had so many visitors. Sakura-san, can you get the fire going?"

Sakura shuffled over to the stove, waving a fan gently over the kindling. The flame came to life and she added another piece of wood before closing the little door. She set the pot filled with water above one stove opening. "Is the temple always so empty?"

"I care for the grounds with my mother, but she's on a pilgrimage to the capital." Itsuko poured a pitcher of water over the rice in a basket to rinse it.

"You must miss her."

"There are not many visitors to the shrine this time of year so it can get lonely," Itsuko said. She paused as she was about to put the rice in a pot. "That man you came here with, the one with the silver hair. It's quite an unusual color."

"Oh, you have to have a strange hair if you want to travel with us." Sakura shook her pink locks for emphasis.

Itsuko laughed. "Then what about Sosuke-san? I would say black is rather common."

"He would say, it's not black, it's 'raven.' It sounds far more mysterious."

"Raven. That does sound mysterious. But back to the other one—what was his name again?"

"Kak—Kurou. Why are you curious about him?" Please don't be interested. If Itsuko turned those jewel-like eyes on Kakashi, the poor sap didn't stand a chance. Sakura chopped the radish with a little too much force.

"I mentioned his hair because there's been someone coming by recently who has the same color."

Sakura went cold. "Did you get a look at his face?"

"No. Every time I went out to greet him, he was gone."

"Was he wearing a white dog mask?"

"I only saw the back of his head. Was it Kurou-san?"

"I doubt it," Sakura said. "If you ever see him again—run. As fast and far away as you can."

"He's dangerous?"

"Very. Please take my advice seriously. That man wants you dead."

Itsuko was silent as she tore apart herbs to add into the broth. Then she said, "I'm not afraid to die."

That surprised Sakura, who was someone clung to life and rallied to learn exactly how to preserve the lives of her friends. More than her own life, she valued every second spent with her fellow shinobi. There was a constant awareness in the back of her mind that any moment could be their last. "That's not something you should say so casually. It could hurt the people who care about you," she said.

A memory welled up. It was some time after Team 7 had broken up, in the midst of the war, when she had visited the Memorial Stone. Four new names had been carved recently into its surface. She hadn't known them particularly well, not enough to recall their faces even now.

"Are you crying for them?" Kakashi asked. He was standing by the tree and she hadn't seen him. He pocketed the Icha Icha book he'd been reading into his vest.

She kneeled, setting down the flowers. She plucked the weeds that had sprouted since the last maintenance service for the memorial. His question irritated her. He seemed to be asking why she bothered doing any of this, for three women and one boy—a child. "Yes, I am. I wanted to remember them."

Remember them. Apologize to them.

Because she was alive and they were not.

He picked up on the edge in her tone. Crouching down next to her, he said, "I understand, Sakura."

She sat back on the grass, drawing her knees into her chest. The simple statement undid her. The tears flowed more freely. "What do you understand, sensei?" Her throat pained her as she asked her question through the emotions. "Aren't you supposed to tell me that we kill people everyday—we're soldiers and we fight for our village, but we can't spare our tears for the fallen. Mourning in silence is more dignified." She read the names listed before her over again, some she recognized and more she didn't. "They're gone. Forever. They're the dead ones, not me. I feel like a selfish idiot."

"You're worried the dead will feel burdened if you feel sad?" Kakashi asked. "That's taking worrying what others think to a whole other level."

She hiccupped, rubbing her eyes raw. The fresh sap from the weeds she had plucked stung her nose. Kakashi straightened, offering to help her stand, which she gratefully accepted. She shook her head ruefully. "I'm sorry. It's been a bad week out in the field. Part of me is also afraid I'll see Naruto's name—or even yours on here one day. Can you promise me one thing?" She put a hand on the stone.

"What's that?"

"Don't be a hero."

"I'll try not to be." He ruffled her hair.

She knew he had purposefully avoided making that promise. It wasn't one he could keep. Although, to be fair, none of her former teammates could help themselves. At their very core, beat a hero's heart. This jutsu was proof of that for Kakashi.

Sakura smiled to herself as she put down the tray of food in Kakashi and Sosuke's room.

"Thinking of someone?" Kakashi asked.

"Just someone I'd like to see again very soon."

#

Sakura trailed after Itsuko for the evening, much to Sosuke's irritation. Oops, she was being a third wheel, but she was determined that Itsuko make it out of this temple alive. If he knew, he'd probably concede that was more important than his awkward attempts at flirting.

"Shouldn't you two go to bed?" Sosuke asked as the four of them sat on the porch. His question was laced with meaning that his companions ignored.

"But it's a beautiful night." Kakashi seemed to be feeling left out and joined Sakura in her third wheeling…so he was a fourth wheeler. They now had enough wheels for a cart.

"So beautiful," Sakura agreed. The moon was full, casting its pale glow onto the temple grounds. Whenever there was a description of the moon in the books, it was always said to be full. She wondered if it was night now in the real world.

She turned to Kakashi. Was he all right? She mulled over whether there would be changes within the jutsu if…if he deteriorated. Her breath caught in her throat. Everything seemed fine now, she tried to reassure herself, and she hoped that meant he was okay too.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked.

"N-no." She averted her gaze. It was still strange to her, that she could see his face out in the open so regularly. His lack of a mask meant he wasn't himself, but she had to admit it was a very nice face. One she could keep looking at forever if he let her. She might miss that when they got back.

Raucous laughter and shouting from within the temple drew their attention. Itsuko put aside the clothes she'd been mending. "Visitors at this hour?"

"I'll go with you," Sosuke and Sakura said together. He frowned at her, but she ignored it.

The priestess led the way, followed by her group of would-be guardians. Well, two would-be guardians and one man perplexed why his companions would not leave a grown woman by herself, anyway.

"Good evening, priestess," the rebel leader greeted when they arrived in the main shrine area. He was as ugly as Sakura remembered, his face the color of an overripe tomato left out in the sun. His men had busied themselves, taking ceremonial weapons off the walls and inspecting them for their worth.

"Please put those back," Itsuko said coolly.

"They'd be donated to a good cause." He barked a laugh at his own private joke. "There's an interesting rumor we heard on the way up here and I can see it's true. The Taiyo bastard is here." The leader jerked his head at Kakashi, who was standing in the doorway. Then he snorted back something disgusting and wet stuck in his nose and hocked the loogie on the floor.

Sosuke stepped in front of Itsuko. "I will give you ten seconds to turn your sorry tails around and never return."

"Ah, Taiyo sent his dog as well." The leader sneered. "You're outnumbered. Surrender yourselves and we'll keep you alive until we bring you in."

"Who sent you?" Kakashi demanded.

The leader sighed, shaking his head. "Now why would I tell you that?"

The ensuing fight was expected, but Sakura made sure to keep close to Itsuko. She was glad for the first time since they left the Taiyo compound that Sosuke was there as an extra hand to help in the conflict.

"Just keep your back to the wall—don't let anyone sneak up on you," Sakura ordered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kakashi take a hit, dropping to his knee. Unconsciously, she started for him. At the last second she remembered she couldn't do that—out of the three main characters, Itsuko would be the most vulnerable. She'd have to trust him to stay alive.

Itsuko took hold of a long candlestick, swinging it over a rebel that came at her. _Good hit_ , Sakura complimented silently. Her eyes darted, scanning the room for the specter.

The leader snuck up on them, thinking to catch them off guard. Sakura's chakra ladened fists dispelled that notion quickly. The man went flying across the room above the heads of his followers.

And _there_ , cutting through the bodies, quicker than most could see, was the figure she'd been dreading since the restaurant. The specter went for Kakashi this time, apparently not caring which main character died. Sakura was too far away, but that didn't mean she couldn't do anything. She split the floor with one well-placed punch, throwing everyone standing on it off balance as the wood warped beneath their feet. The specter leapt backwards, using the heads of the stumbling rebels like stepping stones.

That masked face turned to her as he regarded her, giving a small raise of the hand in greeting. She heard a single beat of her heart in her ears.

He knew her.

Was it the real Kakashi? She glanced at the other Kakashi in confusion, puzzling if there could be two at once.

"Stop!" she cried out as she chased him outside of the crumbling temple. She didn't have time to ponder. "Kakashi, please—if that's you—"

She sped down the hill, the wind roaring past her. Behind her, she distantly heard someone shout her name, but she ignored him. Her hands made quick seals as she kept her pace. On the final one, she used her momentum and surged forward as far as she could, landing on all fours. Chakra bled into the earth and it traveled down, forming an immense wall just before the specter.

She straightened, panting. He was just standing there, not making a move to attack her this time. Hope swelled up. "Do you know who I am?" In the open field, her voice sounded so small.

No answer, but he didn't deny it.

She hesitated, then advanced. "Please. Please say you know who I am."

The grass rustled. Kakashi slowed to a halt next to Sakura, his hand to the hilt of his blade. "That's the assassin Sosuke described," he growled.

"Wait, don't attack yet." Sakura held out her arm.

"Are you protecting him?"

"It's not like that. I just need a chance to talk to him."

"You know who he is," Kakashi said, his gaze slid over to the figure still standing before them. His brows drew together. "Is it because of you that he's here?"

"That's not it at all."

As she said this, the air around them crackled. The hairs on Sakura's head felt charged by the sudden energy released. She snapped her attention to the specter who had unsheathed a white blade that sparked with electricity. She shoved Kakashi out of the way at the last second. The volts caught her side, seizing her entire body, stealing her control. Her lungs forgot how to work. Redirect, her instincts screamed at her. Her mind had shattered in a million directions. It felt like years had passed as she gathered the pieces together, focusing on the electricity running through her and forcing it into a path straight into the ground.

As suddenly as it had been there, the shock withdrew. Her stomach heaved at the smell of scorched flesh. Smoke curled up from the charred wound on her side. She remembered how to breathe again.

Kakashi had knocked the chakra sabre out of the specter's grasp. The weapon dropped to the dirt next to Sakura, dulling quickly as it lost its source of power. Her knees gave out. She curled into a tight ball, unable to stop twitching.

Her vision was fading in and out when she heard Kakashi's voice. His real voice, not the affected tone of Kurou the character.

 _Don't give up._

'Where are you?' she wanted to shout.

"Sakura-san, are you all right?" Kakashi crouched down next to her. Still playing Kurou.

She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. With great effort, she unclenched her muscles, taking deep breaths of the cool night air. "The specter," she rasped.

He understood what she referred to and answered, "I fought him and he ran off." He reached over and held up the chakra sabre to the light. "What kind of weapon is this?"

"Shinobi-made." She had no doubt about that, even though she'd never seen something like this before. There were weapons out there enhanced by the use of chakra, but this one was not something used by anyone she knew. Perhaps Kakashi had wielded it in the past and stopped using it before she met him.

He helped her stand and they began making their way back to the temple. He glanced back at the wall of earth she'd formed to try and stop the specter. "Are you a kunoichi?"

"Yes."

Kakashi didn't ask more questions. She leaned on him heavily, pretending everything was back to normal. He was warm and solid beneath her touch.

But he wasn't real.

Back at the temple grounds, she was relieved to see that both Sosuke and Itsuko were alive. They were waiting outside, most likely because the inside had been crushed to bits. They were talking in low tones, heads bent toward each other. The spell around them broke when they noticed Sakura and Kakashi enter.

"I asked Itsuko-san to come with us. It's too dangerous for her here with the rebels. She also wants to look for her mother in the capital," Sosuke announced.

"Let me see your injuries," Sakura said, pulling away from Kakashi. Her medic habits kicked in at the sight of the blood soaking through Sosuke's clothes.

Kakashi tightened his grip on her. "You can see to them later."

"You're injured too," she protested, nodding to the wound she'd seen him get earlier on his side.

He set Sakura down gingerly under a tree. "We'll live. Itsuko-san, do you think we could get something use as bandages?"

"You have to do it properly or else you could get an infection," Sakura said. Forget dying by the specter's hand. She would be livid if a preventable infection was the reason she was kicked out of the jutsu.

"You can supervise," he replied. He gently pushed her back down when she tried to stand again.

She opened her mouth to argue when he interrupted her, "You did well tonight. Rest."

A small glow of happiness spread in her chest at his compliment. Stop it, she ordered herself. She wasn't some child seeking his approval. She glared up at him in irritation.

But secretly, she liked it.

* * *

Note: These chapters are getting uncharacteristically long for me. Help.


	7. Chapter 7

_The blade broke during the fight. He sat on the bed in his bare room, staring down at the remains of his father's legacy gathered in a wooden box. The jagged pieces of metal reflected his face back at him. Once again, he'd fucked everything up, only this time his friend had paid the price. His sensei had suggested getting the sabre re-forged when they returned to the village, but Kakashi was reluctant. It would only serve as a reminder of that day. He touched the bandage over his left eye, the slight pressure stinging._

 _There was a knock at the door of his apartment—he'd moved out of his family home into a studio shortly after his father's passing. Too many ghosts in that house. He replaced the lid and went to answer the knock._

 _"Are you ready?" Rin asked. She wore a simple black dress that reached her knees. Red rimmed her eyes from recent tears. Behind her, their sensei waited by the stairs, also in funeral attire. He'd been granted the few hours to send off his student, but Minato would be returning to the war front after._

 _Today, they were going to honor an empty grave. The body couldn't be brought back, like many others who had fallen in the line of duty. Kakashi clenched his fists, thinking of Obito's last moments, crushed beneath that boulder. Had he been afraid to die?_

 _"Let's go," Kakashi said, closing the door behind him._

Sakura felt her face pull into a frown. The awareness of that movement woke her. She didn't recognize any of those people, but since she saw it from his viewpoint, it had to be one of Kakashi's memories. The broken blade in the box could have been the specter's sabre. That would confirm he'd used it in the past, but why did he want her to know that? She also wondered if this meant he knew she was in his mind, but couldn't reach her except this way. Or, he was just being a tricky bastard to teach her some convoluted lesson. Knowing Kakashi, the latter was highly possible.

She sat up, realizing she'd been crying in her sleep. The weight of his emotions during the memory lingered.

Loss. Grief. Guilt.

She knew he had been through a lot when he was younger, but he'd kept his burdens close, rarely ever allowing anyone close enough to see them. She tilted her head up. The sky was a muted blue light, the stars winking out in swaths from the approaching dawn. She was still outside of the temple. Her companions lay asleep around her, trying to rest at least for the few hours they had left after the fight with the rebels.

"Bad dream?" Kakashi was already awake, having had the last watch.

She rubbed her face as she nodded, still exhausted from the fight and healing the others. She'd sat by for a little while when Kakashi told her to, but of course that hadn't lasted long.

"The way you fought last night—it was incredible," he said. "I've never seen shinobi fight up close."

 _Oh, you sweet, delusional man_ , she thought. It was like watching an amazing artist pick up a pencil and ask what it was for.

"I take it there aren't many of us around," she said.

"I heard of some groups in the country bordering ours. You must have come a very long way."

"Closer than you think."

"Can everyone do what you do?" He motioned to the dirt, referring to the wall of earth she'd formed through handseals.

"It depends on the person. There are shinobi out there who are only good at physical fighting, while others are born with…unique gifts." She pointed to her eyes. "There is a clan in my village that can learn any sort of technique just by looking at them."

"Wouldn't you say that's just a really good memory?" he asked. Her mouth went dry when his hand unconsciously went to his left eye.

"It's different. I know a man who's copied over a thousand techniques."

"Maybe he's exaggerating."

"He's not. I've seen him do it myself. He's one of the best, if not _the_ best."

"You seem to admire him." Kakashi stood, dusting off his pants, the line of his lips tightened. "But I would hardly say he's worth the merit if it's just a talent he's born with."

The younger Kakashi in the dream had a bandage around his left eye. The transplant must have been recent at the time. "Please don't speak of him as if you know him." That came out colder than she'd intended, but she felt protective of her former teacher. However, the absurdity of defending Kakashi from himself was not lost on her.

"My apologies," he replied, running a hand through his hair, his brows knitting.

That was the end of the conversation. Sakura wanted to kick herself. She needed to get closer to him, not bite his head off for some imagined slight.

The sun rose over the new day as they set out again. To Sakura, it was just another annoying sign that her mission was still incomplete. She adjusted the makeshift strap she had made to carry the specter's sabre. It could come in handy later, if she ever figured out how to get it to work properly. An elaborate seal blocked her chakra from entering it no matter how many times she tried.

They puzzled over it during lunch, passing it around. Sakura was especially keen on whether Kakashi would unconsciously reveal something to her. He was the most likely choice to get it to work, if the specter was supposed to represent himself from his ANBU days. She tried to explain the theory on how to activate it, basing it on her knowledge of other chakra based weapons. "You have to focus on the energy flow in your body, then divert it through the open points in your hand."

Kakashi gripped the handle, frowning in concentration. His face started to go red.

"You're allowed to breathe," she added. This was hard to watch. Chakra control was such a basic shinobi technique, taught to them as small children.

He took a gasp of air. "I don't think I'm getting this. Sosuke, do you want to give it a try?"

"This smells strongly of witchcraft." Sosuke accepted it reluctantly, holding it far away from himself. He squinted at the characters carved into the face of the blade. "Hatake. Is that a clan name?"

Sakura almost shoved him aside to get a better look. There it was, Kakashi's surname. She traced the strokes. Why hadn't she seen that before? The familiar characters were like a friend she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Who was that man?" Kakashi asked. "You seemed to know him."

She folded her arm to her chest, sitting back down on boulder. "Something like that. I think it's obvious now that he's targeting you three."

"Wait, why me as well?" Itsuko asked.

"Uhhh…" Sakura tapped her fingertips together, realizing she misspoke. Kurou and Sosuke wouldn't question being targeted, since they lived their lives embroiled in political turmoil. Itsuko was trickier. There were certain plot twists that would occur later in the book that would make Itsuko an understandable target, but right now, none of them were supposed to know that. "I'm not sure, but you said you saw him hanging around before you met us, right? I think you're part of this now too."

"It's a good thing she's coming with us," Sosuke said, nodding.

"Do you know who he's working for?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura took back the sabre and began wrapping it in cloth again. "He's here because of my old teacher. There's some history with the Taiyo family between them. It was part of the reason why I left my village to pledge my services."

"Teacher," Kakashi repeated. "I take it he was a shinobi as well."

"Yes." Sakura leveled a look at him.

He shifted, uncertain why she did that, then announced they should get back on the road. Sakura followed, wanting to tear her hair out in frustration. Her hints were getting bolder. Every second spent in this jutsu felt like a needle poised to strike, never knowing when the point would come down. Even watching the progression of the romance between Itsuko and Sosuke irritated her. They were just so damn happy with each other, completely unaware of Sakura's troubles.

Kakashi walked alongside her, matching her pace despite his longer stride. He seemed to be showing zero interest in Itsuko, which would not be in Kurou's character. Did that matter? She didn't particularly feel like playing matchmaker for Kakashi.

"Can you teach me how you did that…" Kakashi motioned vaguely. "…The earth wall."

"Yes, and I'd like to learn how you destroyed the floor in one punch," Itsuko said, turning to Sakura. Her face fell. "That is going to take forever to fix."

"Sorry about that, again," Sakura said.

Itsuko waved aside the apology. "The temple needed renovations in any case. My mother will know what to do when I tell her what happened."

"Right." Sakura's voice was doubtful. The temple was going to need more than renovations after what happened to it.

She'd never tried teaching someone how to be a shinobi before. This would be good practice. The task would fall on her soon enough, as a jonin, but she'd assumed there would be some kind of training before she started. Generations of passing down knowledge usually honed in on the better ways to teach She thought back to her early days in the Academy, trying to scrounge up a simple exercise for them to try. As an added benefit, maybe it would help jog Kakashi's memory. She padded up to a tree growing in the field and retrieved four leaves the size of the tip of her thumb. She came back, sticking one on her forehead, using her chakra to keep it in place. "This is a good place to start. First, you have to focus your energy on the leaf. Don't let it fall."

Sosuke held up the leaf, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean 'focus your energy'?"

Sakura shifted her weight onto one side. "It's similar to what I asked you to do before with the sabre. There's a core of energy in your stomach that you can utilize. Hopefully, it's a little easier to grasp." She placed the leaf from her head onto Itsuko's.

Kakashi pointed to his leaf on his face. "Am I doing it? It's not falling off."

"Wow, you got that pretty quick." Just what you'd expect from the Copy Nin. Sakura leaned closer. She poked the leaf, testing his control, and it drifted to the ground. She frowned. "Did you lick that to make it stick?"

He looked away quickly. "You broke my concentration."

"Don't cheat!" She grabbed his face, turning it to her. He stilled, breathing in and holding it. Her heart beat faster as everything seemed to go quiet around them. Distantly, she watched him run his fingertips along her knuckles, as if he was testing to make sure her hands were really there. His touch drew out pleasant tingles that ran down her arm.

She released him, going to Itsuko instead to help. His eyes stayed with her. She could feel them following her as she explained to the others how it should be done.

"And when you get this, you can start learning how to walk up trees or on water," Sakura said, louder than needed.

"Amazing. I never knew energy could be harnessed in such a way," Itsuko said, while Sosuke muttered behind her about witchcraft.

They kept trying while they walked on. This was more difficult than standing and keeping the leaf in place, but soon Itsuko and Sosuke could do it for at least a few steps before it fell off. Surprisingly, Kakashi turned out to be the slowest learner out of all of them.

Sakura blamed it on her own teaching. "I'm sorry. I don't think I'm doing this right," she said.

"That's my line," he replied, catching the leaf as it drifted down.

"I thought this would be easy for you," she said, more to herself.

"Now why would that be?"

"Uh, well, usually people with training in a weapon tend to pick it up faster." That was true, so it didn't count as a lie, even if it wasn't the real reason she would have given him. Sosuke was the first to keep the leaf on his face, so he proved the point, at least.

"If only I was like that person you mentioned—the one that could copy all those techniques," he joked.

Sakura's laugh was hollow. "I wish that too."

Kakashi went cross-eyed, focusing hard on the leaf. He had both arms flung out as if he were balancing on a rope. A few seconds passed. Then more. He pointed at himself eagerly.

"Hmmmm," she hummed, standing on her toes and poking the leaf, making sure he hadn't just licked it and stuck it on again. Gross. It didn't budge and she beamed at him. "Very good."

A grin spread on his lips at the praise. Then, his expression grew troubled briefly as he considered something. The leaf detached and fluttered to the ground. Sakura picked it up. "Aw, what happened?" she asked.

"Not sure." He dragged a hand down his face.

"You should keep trying."

"Can you explain it one more time?"

"Of course."

As Sakura went through it again, she noticed Kakashi listening with rapt attention, not at all deterred by the fact that he was doing as badly as Naruto in his early days. He was such a good student. It was just too bad she sucked as a teacher. She went on lecturing, drowning out the memory of his hands and the eager hope that was getting going to get her into trouble.

#

Nishikyo was certainly a city. It was filled with houses, buildings, and shops crammed together along grids of streets. Sakura, whose frame of reference was the modestly populated Konoha, was awed by the sheer size of it. True cities were a rarity in the Fire country. There was one at the seat of the daimyo's power and maybe one other that claimed to be a 'city,' but in her opinion was more of a very large town.

As they entered the capital, Sakura made a beeline for an accessories shop with wares on display out front. She picked up a hair piece, admiring the carefully molded cloth flowers arranged in a pleasing cluster on the comb. The color was a darker shade of pink than her hair. It was so cute! She put it down sadly. In any other situation she would have paid for it immediately, but there was no point in doing that here. She couldn't take it with her when she left the jutsu. Also, it didn't exist in real life. Damn Kakashi for creating something she could never buy.

"Ah, this is so lovely," Itsuko said, holding up a hair stick with a brilliant blue blossom made of glass on the end. A painted bead dangled on a chain from the flower. Compared to Sakura's rather elaborate choice, it was simple elegance that suited Itsuko perfectly.

Sosuke crossed his arms in impatience. "We should get going. There's no time for gawking at such things."

Sakura arched a brow, disliking his condescending tone, but couldn't say anything because she had to agree. The sooner they advanced the plot, the sooner she could figure out how to help Kakashi. Speaking of Kakashi, she glanced around. Where had he gone? After some searching, they found him engrossed in a book seller's stall.

"The Empress isn't going anywhere," Kakashi protested as Sosuke dragged him back to the group.

Before heading to the palace, they dropped Itsuko off at the temple where her mother was supposed to be. Sosuke grabbed her hands, startling her. She blushed. They stared into each others eyes in silence while Kakashi and Sakura stood off to the side, feeling awkward.

"Will you still be here within the week?" Sosuke asked.

"I'm not certain. My mother may wish to return soon to temple once she hears what happened." She shyly averted her gaze

"I will visit tomorrow," he promised.

Sakura watched them without really watching them, strategizing in her head what she should do in this situation. During the night, Itsuko would be kidnapped because that happened next in the book. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Sosuke were going to be in the palace, doing boring political stuff. The specter could show up in either location, but from the pattern of his appearances, Sakura predicted the specter chose to appear crucial moments in the plot. Furthermore, if there was an attack, Sosuke and Kakashi were better able to fight. They could watch each others back if things got tough. In terms of the plot, the two of them would be doing relatively safe activities within a heavily guarded palace. Sakura hated balancing their safety like this, but she had no choice. There was only one of her.

"Itsuko-san, I actually have some business to see to in the city, so it might be more convenient if I stay here with you," Sakura said.

Itsuko extracted her hands from Sosuke's, suddenly remembering they were not alone. Her face was still pink as she spoke, "I'm sure there are plenty rooms here or you could share with my mother and I, if you don't mind."

Sosuke opened his mouth to protest, only to realize at the exact same moment he had no reason to argue. He was just jealous Sakura got to spend more time with the object of his affections. He scowled.

"You're sure you don't want to see the palace?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll be fine. There'll be other palaces." Although a part of her did pang to see the finery of the imperial court. She'd gotten a small taste of it at Taiyo's lordly home: the extravagance of the furnishings, the enormous bathing room, and all the pretty, pretty formal robes. The Empress's domain would surpass anything Taiyo had to offer. As a rather common young woman with a middle class background, she wasn't likely to get many more chances.

"I didn't ask you this until now, but are you planning to return with us?" He didn't look her in the eyes as he asked this. His face betrayed nothing, as usual, but his shoulders were tense as he waited for her answer.

She smiled. "You'll be coming back with me."

She would figure this out. They would go back to their friends waiting for them on the outside.

Sosuke got a few more oaths and vows to Itsuko in before Kakashi extracted him. The love struck swordsman dragged his feet, throwing back wistful glances and sighs. Poor guy. He had no idea Itsuko was about to fall into some terrible peril during the night. Still, Sakura couldn't help feel a little vindicated for the way he'd cut their shopping incursion short.

Sakura took a calming breath as she turned to the temple. It loomed over the two women, the sun sinking in the background casting the grounds in a red blaze. The front door of the shrine was open. In the fading light, all she could see of the inside were shadowed, blurry outlines. Sakura fully expected the danger they were about to fall into. What she didn't expect was Sosuke showing up hours later, before the kidnappers arrived, breathless as if he'd run the entire distance from the palace. His hair fell into his eyes, the locks escaping from his usually neat ponytail. Sweat ran down his neck.

"Kurou's been arrested," he said.

* * *

Note: Thank you for all of the lovely notes! I treasure each and every one of them. Someone asked how long this fic is going to be and I'm estimating about...5 more chapters? Maybe?


	8. Chapter 8

Sakura sat on the steps of the temple with her face in her hands. Sosuke paced, rambling about what had happened, gesturing wildly to emphasize his outrage.

"A man with silver hair like Kurou broke into the Empress's room in the middle of the night. No one saw his face because of the mask, but they just _assumed_ it was Kurou without any more evidence than that." Sosuke punched a painted wooden post. "This will ruin Taiyo-sama."

Sakura's shoulders straightened. She had a feeling she knew exactly who was the true culprit. Her eyes strayed to the palace in the distance, its appearance cutting a sharp form on the horizon in the moonlight. It rose up amongst the other buildings surrounding it, built upon multiple tiers of mortar and stone.

"What will you do?" Itsuko asked Sosuke.

"I must tell my liege immediately and I'll have to go myself." He clenched his fists. "There is no one I feel I can trust with a message."

Itsuko touched his arm as he walked past her. "You're leaving then?"

"I will be back." He whirled, taking her by the shoulders. A strategic breeze drifted by, rustling through their robes and hair as flower petals fluttered down.

Very dramatic. However, Sosuke was _not_ leaving. Not if Sakura had anything to say about it. She looked away from Kakashi for one second and he was freaking arrested! Who knew what kind of horrible fate Sosuke would meet on the road if he went alone. Exhaustion crept up on her, pulling her down into some dark hole. The constant paranoia was getting to her. She had to keep it together.

She cracked her knuckles, standing. The cloth wrapped up chakra sabre shifted against her back because of the sudden movement. "No. We're doing a jail break."

Screw the plot! If the specter could mess it up this badly, it clearly didn't matter what she did. As long as these three stayed alive, she was going to count it as a win. She was going to take the specter out. For good.

"Jail…break?" Itsuko asked.

"Breaking the jail will only cause more trouble," Sosuke said.

Sakura shook her head. Not a local saying. Right. "I meant that we're going to help Kaka-Kurou escape."

"My statement still stands: it will only cause more trouble," Sosuke said evenly, crossing his arms.

"Kurou could be in danger sitting in that cell. The specter could get him at any time—I just don't understand why he's going through all of this just to kill him." She turned sharply. Her senses alerted her to the specter's chakra signature approaching. He didn't bother masking it, blatantly wanting her to know he was there. "Be on your gu—"

The specter flipped off the roof of the temple onto the ground, landing in a crouched position, back rounded like a cat. Behind him, a large group of people, the kidnappers most likely, came up the stairs to the entrance of the grounds. Sakura cursed their timing. The newcomers stared at the specter in confusion until one called out, "You can't just take her because you were here first. We're getting that prize money."

"Take who?" Sosuke looked between the two women.

"Itsuko's a secret princess, okay?" Sakura raised a finger to hush any sudden questions that were sure to come. She had bigger fish to fry. "No time to explain. Just protect her. Itsuko, remember what I said about keeping your back to the wall. Do not go anywhere I can't see you." She clapped her hands together. "Fight!"

The specter seemed to agree, rushing at Sakura. He had somehow acquired another chakra sabre. She knew it couldn't be the same one because that one was strapped to her back. Energy pulsed through the air as she dodged the arc of white light the sabre created.

"Cheater!" she accused. What, like these specialized weapons were just lying around or something? She skidded to a halt. The specter shifted his stance, ready for her. "Let's go, you creepy ghost weirdo," she growled.

She twirled and jumped, avoiding the sabre. The first thing on her agenda was to get that out of the way. It gave him a clear advantage, preventing her from fighting him up close and also ruling out other weapons that could conduct that electricity straight into her body. Her chance came when one of the kidnappers became an unlikely ally, charging at the specter.

With him distracted, Sakura aimed a kick for his grip on the handle. He intuited what she was trying to do at the last moment, switching hands and using his now free fist to punch the man who came at him. To prevent them from overwhelming him, he made a quick circle with the blade, slashing guts unfortunate enough not to dodge in time.

Sakura was about to make another attempt when an attacker targeted her with a spear. She wrested it out of his unskilled hands, flipping the pointed end at him instead and shoving it into the base of his throat. Before the man was even dead, she yanked the weapon back out, deciding it might help against the specter.

She hooked it into her arm, running low to avoid sword blades slashing the air around her. The specter was making quick work of the kidnappers, many lying on the ground, their blood pooling around his sandals. She didn't stop once, using her momentum to leap and angle the spear for his arm holding the sabre. The bastard was one step ahead of her again, blocking her attack. The electrified steel easily cut through a portion of the wooden length. Smoke rose from the newly blackened end.

She shot him a glare. He cocked his head, as if he were studying her. The kidnappers had paused in their attack, realizing just how outmatched they were against the two shinobi. They hadn't been expecting a fight, just an easy target in a helpless priestess. If only Sakura had her gloves to adjust for dramatic effect. Itsuko and Sosuke were rubbing off on her.

They flew at each other again, two forces of destruction colliding. A small part of her was thrilled. She'd never fought Kakashi in a true battle, limited to practice sparring sessions that were no where near the real thing. Dust rose in plumes around them. Deep fissures and pits dotted the grounds in areas that had taken the impact of her attacks when she failed to hit her mark. Slice by slice, her spear, well, a pole now since it had no pointed end, grew shorter until all that was left was a nub. She tossed it aside.

An idea occurred to her. She had a chakra sabre of her own, just like his—exactly like his. Why didn't she make use of it now? She ripped it off her back, rushing to undo the cloth binding it. The specter continued to attack, arcs of white light crossing her vision, each time close enough for the electricity skim the air just above her skin. When her blade was finally free, she quickly brought it up, praying to the universe her theory was right.

It was.

Her blade lit up upon contact with the specter's chakra, blazing white briefly, but the charge didn't run down the handle into her arm. Score!

Every time they clashed, there was an explosion of brightness that washed over their surroundings. When her blade lost contact, it immediately dulled, then burst to life again once it was fed.

She feinted and he fell for it, but with his speed he managed to grazed the flesh on her upper arm. Hissing in pain and fighting through the sudden shock numbing the limb, she jammed the butt of the sabre against his hand grasping his weapon. His grip weakened. When she tackled his middle with her full weight plus some of her augmented strength, it was enough to force him to drop the sabre. His bones cracked audibly. Probably a few ribs unable to take the pressure.

She swept her leg, knocking him fully off his balance, then pinning him down with a knee and keeping him there with her chakra. She panted from the exertion of the fight. Her blade was poised above him, but she chose not to bring it down yet, taking in the situation.

She should do it. With the specter out of the way, the jutsu could continue the book's plot to the end without further complications. Killing him could also turn out to be what she needed to do to bring Kakashi out. Her gaze flickered to the silver hair above the porcelain mask. Blank eye holes framed within red stared at her, not giving away a single thing about what lay underneath. She just had to confirm one thing.

She tore the mask off his face, not at all gently. The thin layer of chakra holding it in place proved little resistance. Her heart dropped into her stomach. She couldn't stop the sudden tears welling up in her eyes. The drops fell on his cloth mask, so familiar to her, leaving tiny damp spots.

"I knew it," she whispered. She fisted a hand in his uniform. Kakashi blinked slowly, not reacting at all to her eruption of emotion. She shook him. "Why won't you say anything? I'm here to save you. Please remember that none of this is real!"

His expression didn't change. He hadn't even heard her. It was then that she noticed he was so young, younger than her—maybe fifteen? Seeing him this way was disconcerting. He'd never been an old man to her, but he was always _older._ She would never have expected to have the experience of being almost ten years his senior even with the craziest jutsus out there. The proportions of his face were still that of a child, his eyes seeming larger than she was used to seeing on him. She frowned at the sharingan. When she'd seen it at first, she'd believed she'd made a fatal error. The real Kakashi would have taken advantage of her mistake and left her incapacitated the moment she looked into it like an idiot.

The swirls were frozen.

"Tell me how I can help you," she breathed. She lowered her weapon and instead, she cradled his cheek in her palm.

"Follow the mission directive," he said, his voice wooden.

She shook her head. No, this wasn't Kakashi. It was just some kind of shadow from his past. She glanced around, finally noticing the temple ground had emptied out. Alarm ran through her at the sight of Sosuke's body laying facedown before the door of the shrine. The specter took advantage of her momentary distraction, breaking the chakra hold on him and knocking her back. He didn't bother with restraint, using enough strength to propel her halfway across the grounds.

By the time she found her breath, he was gone. The only sign that he'd been there were the freshly dead abandoned to rot. She let out a cry of frustration. The reason he'd gotten away was because she hadn't killed him when she had her chance. A small voice in her head asked if she could have done it anyway. Could she have ended someone even wearing Kakashi's face like that? Her jaw clenched as she clamped down on the doubt. Yes, she would have done it, and endured the nightmares afterwards, if it meant she could save him.

She hurried to Sosuke's side. He was still alive, seeing how the jutsu hadn't kicked her out yet. She turned him over. A nasty welt bulged along his hairline, promising to grow colorful and even nastier at a later point. There was no sign of Itsuko. She cursed as she checked his pupils, improvising the light of her chakra to test them since she had no light to shine on them. They contracted normally, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief before she set about healing the welt.

Head wounds could be tricky. The surface damage could be dealt with, but the brain liked to take its time coming back. Rushing that process could cause worse damage. When she was done, she gently laid him back down. She thanked her lucky stars when he came to a few moments later.

"Itsuko. They took her," he croaked.

"I know." That was the one thing she'd been expecting, although it didn't mean she'd wanted it. At this point, she would have rather have them all together.

He slammed his fist into the dirt. "I couldn't protect her. Sakura-san, please, help me get her back."

She hesitated. What did she do now? She'd lost her chance with the specter, so he was still out there, a huge threat. Kakashi was being held prisoner in the palace, far away from where the kidnappers had taken Itsuko. She lamented that her chakra reserves couldn't be spared for a clone to help her be in two places at once.

Sosuke was still looking at her in question, all of his very human anguish playing on his face. She knew that feeling of loss. It reminded her of the day she begged—truly _begged_ , throwing away what little pride she had—Sasuke not to leave and he'd done it anyway, knocking her out, leaving her to wake up alone with the knowledge that she had not been enough. She had never been enough in his eyes.

Could she just ignore Sosuke like this? He wasn't real, she rationalized, not an actual person. Don't let emotions affect the mission. Emotions caused mistakes. Mistakes got you killed.

The memory of Itsuko smiling in amazement as she mastered chakra control for the first time and kept her leaf stuck to her forehead played in Sakura's head.

"Yes, we will get her back," Sakura said, offering Sosuke a hand up. Even as she said this, worry pressed through the back of her mind. She needed Itsuko to stay alive to keep the jutsu going, but she was troubled what this meant for Kakashi, sitting alone in his prison cell, vulnerable.

The specter's choices didn't make sense to her. Why have Kakashi arrested when killing him would be the quickest way to kick her out of the jutsu?

Her lips tightened into a line. Because then Kakashi could be executed by the other characters. He'd be hunted and hounded no matter where he went. There was a target on his back and anyone working for the Empress would gladly cut him down for a reward. This was the specter's insurance policy. His really irritating, clever insurance policy that would make her life hell no matter what she did from this point on. She ground her teeth. The only bright side seemed to be that this meant that for now, Kakashi would be off the specter's radar. Not that she trusted him to be logical in anyway or even play fair.

As she described to Sosuke where she believed the kidnappers had taken Itsuko, his eyes narrowed. "That sounds like the entrance to the caverns outside of the city, but how do you know this? You mentioned before that Itsuko-san was a 'secret princess?'"

Another lie she'd have to come up with for her short-sighted outbursts. "Itsuko's mother hired me. She's the banished granddaughter of the Empress—no don't interrupt," she said, holding up a finger when Sosuke's jaw flew open in shock, "It's about to get better. That makes Itsuko a princess too. Her mother didn't come to the city for a pilgrimage, she came here to seize power from the current heir. I was hired by a supporter of her mother who wants to make sure that Kurou and Itsuko stay alive. Because…because he thinks that they would be a good match when Itsuko's mother is the Empress. Something to do with the Taiyo faction."

She crossed her fingers, wishing to the universe that Sosuke would buy it and they could leave to get Itsuko. Now that her chance to kill the specter had slipped out of her fingers, not having a main character in her sights was causing her anxiety. While Kakashi might be off the table, Itsuko and Sosuke were still fair game. She'd have to keep them close while she tried to rescue her deluded friend and salvage this the best she could. A ridiculous fluttered to the top of her mind of her: breaking into the jail with Itsuko and Sosuke on child leashes. Dear kami, she was just an overgrown babysitter at this point. She paused.

"Follow the mission directive," the specter had said.

The only directive she'd been following was the book. Had the specter just given her a clue? Her thoughts were interrupted by Sosuke suddenly standing, face like stone, then walking to the edge of the grounds with his back to her, and shouting, "WHAT? WHAT IS HAPPENING?"

Sakura winced. She supposed throwing the entire exposition on a guy could be a little disorienting. She waited patiently while Sosuke lost it. He fell to his knees, shaking his fist at the sky, asking unknown deities for the answers that never came. He panted as he stood, smoothing back his hair. He walked back to her after he composed himself.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yes, let's go."

#

After Sosuke recovered from his discovery that his life of enmeshed political turmoil was actually just a small piece of the _larger_ , more confusing political turmoil, he was able to get back his bearings enough to guide them to the caverns. There were a few entrances they tried first until they came upon the correct one. Sakura sensed Itsuko's energy signature within the entrance, confirming that they'd found her.

"Do we have a plan?" Sosuke asked. They were crouched behind trees at the edge of the clearing. The cavern was within their sights.

"All I have is: go in, fight the bad guys, and get Itsuko back."

"That seems really obvious."

"Got anything better?"

He sighed. "No."

Just as Sakura was about to move in, the ground beneath her feet shook. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Although Sosuke had been behind her, somehow he'd jumped ahead in a split second. A chill ran up her arms, the hair on the back of her neck rising. Sosuke looked back to her in question. He hadn't noticed a thing. The glitch in the illusion of the jutsu was not a good sign. Kakashi's mind was beginning to fail under the stress.

She shook her head clear and caught up. The best thing she could do now was focus on her task at hand, stay on her toes, and finish this.

As they went in, they began to hear voices echoing off of the rocks. A sickly glow from a few lanterns coated the inside of the cave. Sakura and Sosuke were careful not to cast accidental shadows that would tip the other side of their presence.

One of the kidnappers loudly complained, "This is a pile of crap. We lost too many people trying to get the girl. Ouran promised she would be alone and unprotected. He never mentioned anything about two demons going at it."

"We should charge him extra," someone added. To this, there were grumbles of agreements.

"The asshole would have it coming," Sakura said, rubbing her chin. Without the kidnappers noticing, she had taken a seat among them.

"Yea," replied the man next to her.

"On the bright side, your share of the pot will be bigger," she said.

There were nods, as if this was the first time anyone had considered this. Suddenly, a few heads popped up, noticing her presence. "Wait, isn't that the—"

"Surprise!" Sakura grinned, throwing her arms out wide.

The sight of grown men paling just by the look of her always brought a happy tear to Sakura's eye. She balled her hands into fists, the glow of chakra casting eerie shadows on her face in the darkness of the cave. "So are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"

"We're just simple, hired hands, ma'am. No need to get violent," a kidnapper said.

She snorted. "I'm going to count backwards from ten. Ten, nine…"

"We have to make a living too!"

"Eight."

"Aw, I am not dealing with this," he muttered, turning tail. The others followed suit, throwing back terrified glances over their shoulders to make certain she wasn't chasing them.

When they were gone, Sakura stuck up a victory sign with her fingers to Sosuke, who emerged from behind a boulder muttering, "You're a monster."

"You ever see a monster this cute?" Sakura shot back. She crouched next to Itsuko, who was tied up, her eyes shut. The priestess's vitals were fine, thankfully, but they must have given her a sleeping draught of some kind.

As she moved to scoop Itsuko up, Sosuke stopped her. He insisted, "I can do it."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but let him do as he wished. Now that they had two out of three main characters in one place, she could focus on—her attention snapped to the blur of silver hair in the corner of her vision. Before she could warn Sosuke, several explosive tags attached to the mouth of the cave went off in blooms of fire, hurling rubble in all directions. The entrance collapsed, each rock that fell sealing them off from the outside, blotting out the moonlight.

"Go!" she urged Sosuke, grabbing his arm and dragging him further into the cave to avoid getting squashed flat.

Once they were in a place she believed would not fall to pieces around them, she listened to the last sounds of the cave-in. When she was absolutely certain it was over, she ordered Sosuke to stay with Itsuko while she went to check for a way out.

The kidnappers had left behind their lanterns, although most were crushed now. She picked up the two that remained lit before continuing. She stepped carefully through the darkness, expanding her senses to avoid walking straight into a wall, since she was blind to anything a few feet ahead of her. She came upon the former entry point and saw nothing but solid mass of stone before her, not even the tiniest pinprick of light. She laid her hand flat against the rock. Perhaps she could smash through, but the structure of the cave was already damaged by the explosions. She couldn't risk it coming down on them again. She returned to Sosuke in grim silence, handing him the other lantern.

"I think we're stuck," she said. She noticed the longer she was in the jutsu, the specter was choosing more elaborate ways to kill them, rather than simply running someone through with a weapon.

In her head, she counted the days that had passed, which was coming to a little more than three now. The equivalent of about nine hours in the real world. She'd come so far, used up a lot of time just getting here, just to get caught in this cave. If she failed…would there be enough time left to try again? The small glitch from before stuck out in her thoughts as she picked at the skin on her thumb. Uneasiness weighed down in her gut.

"It'll be too difficult if we try to move with Itsuko in the dark. Let me try to draw out the drug from her system," she said, crouching down next to the priestess. She bit back the exhaustion she felt as she pressed her hand against Itsuko's throat. She'd been fighting and running around for hours now without rest. Naruto may have had the chakra reserves of a demi-god, but she sure as hell didn't.

"It was the specter again, wasn't it?" Sosuke asked as he settled across from her on the other side of Itsuko.

"Mhm." Sakura closed her eyes, focusing on sending her chakra to find the impurities. The substance she drew out was a heavy liquid-like thing that moved sluggishly through Itsuko's system, blocking up the normal energy pathways.

She spent a few more moments checking for any remaining residue. Withdrawing her hands, she leaned against the boulder behind her, resting her head on its surface. She let the drug she'd pulled out seep into the dirt. Sleeping for a few days didn't sound like a bad idea right now. "She should be waking up soon."

"We need to find a way out of this cave before the lanterns go out," Sosuke said softly, touching Itsuko's hair briefly before remembering himself and moving away. He remained silent about the worst case scenario, which was that there was no way out. They would be stuck here until they died from dehydration or starvation.

Even knowing that it wasn't real, Sakura might slice her own throat before going out in such a painful, drawn out way. By the way Sosuke's brows were drawn together in thought as his grip crushed the hilt of his sword, she guessed he was thinking something along similar lines.

Suddenly, he spoke. "I know you're not telling the whole truth about who you are, who the specter is, and why you wish to be near Kurou."

Ah. She didn't know whether or not to be impressed he saw through her cobbled together lies and hasty backstories. They could have used a little more polish, if she was being honest.

"It's better if you don't know the whole truth." She gathered her knees to her chest. How did you tell someone, even a fictional someone, that their entire life was an illusion in the mind of another? She knew how she would react, which would be to smash through everything in sight, including mountains and buildings. After living a few days in this 'reality,' she was questioning her own existence and what it meant to be real.

Itsuko and Sosuke were not real but they loved. They loved hard and true, bravely, fiercely, without an ounce of doubt. Sakura loved, but it was for those she considered her family. For all her bravado, she lacked the temerity to try and love like they did, where they were willing to expose their very souls for a chance to shine in the knowledge that they had found their other half.

If she was being totally honest with herself, she entertained the possibility every now and again that she might try one more time—to forget about her mistakes of the past and be a little bit foolish and make some new mistakes. Her chest clenched as the first person who came up in her mind…was Kakashi.

She stared at the lantern, following the flicker of the flame within its paper confines. What would happen once they got out of here? It had been almost like a game, trying to get his attention, before she realized how much she simply enjoyed his company, even when they sat in complete silence for hours. Her normal anxiety about quiet that extended for too long a period of time was nonexistent around him. The lull in conversation didn't bother him at all and she'd learn to do the same. She could just let it be. Nothing more, nothing less.

He didn't know how much that uncomplicated acceptance meant to her. He might never know. She made a silent promise to herself.

If—no, _when_ they got out of this, she'd make sure to tell him.

#

Note: I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but oh well. The updates are going to be pushed back to the weekends most likely from here on out. Please review if you liked it! I love hearing from you.


	9. Chapter 9

Itsuko woke up and the three began their trudge deeper into the caverns. Water dripped from stalagmites hanging down, the tiny pinpricks of noise cutting through the steady rhythm of their feet shuffling through the dirt. Time was an impossibility. With no sun, no moon, and no clocks to guide Sakura, she could only guess the hours that had passed. Or perhaps, not that much time had passed at all and her senses had already been thrown off.

"Sakura-san—I've been meaning to ask you about what you said earlier," Itsuko said, breaking the silence that had settled over them.

"I'm not sure how much I can tell you."

"My mother. I can't believe she chose not to explain her past for the entirety of my life."

"It doesn't seem like something you can just explain away." After years of hiding the truth, perhaps it simply became the norm. Although Itsuko's mother was a morally ambiguous character, one of Sakura's least favorite in fact, she did seem to genuinely love her daughter. It may have been a misguided attempt to protect Itsuko from the turmoil brewing on the horizon.

Itsuko's voice was barely a whisper. "Everything I've known is a lie."

Sakura felt a stab of guilt, because this was truer than the priestess realized. She also understood what it was like, the betrayal of being kept in the dark because the other person couldn't trust her enough with the truth. "I'm sure you'll get the chance to ask her about it soon."

"She chose this. Our lives will never be the same." The bitter statement hung in the air. Itsuko's life as a priestess, her quiet existence caring for the temple and honoring spirits, shattered by the implications of her heritage.

Sosuke spoke, "It's no use mulling over what your mother did. What will _you_ do?"

Itsuko broke into soft laughter. "What can I do? I'm a priestess. I don't have political training. I was never meant to be a princess and it's clear my mother never expected that of me, since she never bothered to prepare me."

"You have me." Sosuke's boots scuffled against the dirt as he moved to her to grasp her hand. Reluctantly, he added, "And Sakura-san."

"Count us among your friends and allies," Sakura said.

"Thank you. Truly," Itsuko said.

They filled the time with mindless conversation, perhaps to distract themselves from the slow ebbing of hope of any escape. The stale, humid air clung to Sakura's skin like a second coat, making her long to feel a fresh breeze beneath the sky. The inside of her stomach felt scraped clean of the last meal she'd had hours ago. The cave walls warped in front of her eyes, the shadows cast upon them by the lanterns not helping at all. Before she knew it, the ground was beneath her head, the impact disorienting her.

"Sakura-san, we should take a rest," Itsuko said, kneeling down.

"No, we have to keep going. There's no time to lose," Sakura replied, her arms shaking beneath her as she tried to pick herself back up.

Itsuko pressed a firm hand down on Sakura's shoulder. "You're a healer. Surely you would never let someone else push her body like this."

Some of the fight deflated out of Sakura, her arguments dying on her tongue. She flipped onto her back, covering her eyes with one arm. The spinning room was not helping the nausea induced by hunger. She heard Itsuko say in her gentle way, "Both of you can sleep. I'll keep watch and wake you before it gets too late."

"Itsuko-san, I'm not tired at all. If you'd like, I could keep watch instead?" Sosuke said.

"Not happening." Sakura said, without removing her arm. "If I'm sleeping, you have to sleep too."

"I'm perfectly capable of withstanding strenuous conditions." He scoffed.

"Please, I don't mind taking this watch." Itsuko patted the ground next to her. Almost too eagerly, Sosuke stretched out near her.

Sleep came easily to Sakura, but this time she wasn't sure she was in a dream at all.

 _Total darkness shrouded her. No, not darkness. She could see herself perfectly well, as if lit through her own source of light. Up, down, left, right. Just…nothing. She walked forward, her footsteps silenced in the vacuum of space she occupied. For ages, she walked through the void. She felt herself grow older and older, until her body bent under the years. Her knees creaked and she dearly wished for a cane to support her. She paused, picking a piece of hair by her face and finding it completely white. Her fingers were gnarled and spotted, trembling lightly as she dropped her hand to her side. She would die here. The thought came to her with such certainty that she felt her chest constrict with fear._

 _She blinked at sudden brightness ahead of her. Someone was sitting in front of it. His back was so familiar to her. That silver hair. Why couldn't she remember? It had been so long ago since she'd last seen another person. She frowned, her wrinkled face deepening with more lines._

 _Kakashi._

 _The name tumbled from her lips, but no sound would come. She wasn't sure if she could anymore. Her vocal chords may have long turned to dust from disuse and she never would have known._

 _Kakashi._

 _She hobbled faster. Faster to that light and to_ him _. Damn her aching joints that held her back from running as quickly as she wished. He was turning. He'd heard her! The light grew brighter and brighter. She was almost to him._

"Kakashi!" Sakura jolted from her dream, panting as if she had been running. For a moment, panic gripped her, because she was in complete darkness as she had been in her dream.

"It's all right. The lanterns just burned out." She heard Itsuko's voice next to her. Just beyond, Sosuke murmured softly in his sleep.

"We'll have to keep going without them, at least for a while." Sakura said. She decided against using even the dim glow provided by the light of her chakra. The nap had replenished her energy stores a little bit, but with no food, she was going to have to conserve her energy.

Sosuke woke shortly after, roused by the sound of their hushed conversation over him. Walking without the lanterns was more difficult, but Sakura's senses were sharper than the others and could keep them from walking face first into boulders at the very least. She lead the group, turning back when they came upon dead end after dead end, each time feeling a little more hopeless that they were getting anywhere at all.

"I think I've found something," Itsuko said. "There are these strange carvings I can feel here."

Sakura ran her hand where Itsuko guided them and felt them too. The marks were deeply gouged into the stone, too deep to be natural. Tools must have been used to form them. Overtaken by curiosity and the faint hope that this could help them, Sakura poured a tiny amount of chakra to her palm, the blue-green light filling the carvings which ran further up to a niche in the wall meant to hold a lantern or other source of light. The remains of paint, the original pattern of which had long since flaked away, clung to the more deeply carved areas. She walked up ahead and found the same thing repeated at measured distances.

"These must have been used a long time ago to guide people through the caverns," Itsuko said.

"There's no way of knowing that for certain," Sosuke said.

"It's the best option we have at the moment," Sakura said, lifting her shoulders to set them straight after hunching over. She let the chakra dissipate from her hand, leaving them blind once again. "Let's try to follow this wall and see if it leads to a way out."

Despite her exhaustion, having some kind of plan assured Sakura. It was much nicer than the feeling of being lost, even if nothing would come of it. She loved plans. Plans were logical, gave her direction and also a clear idea of where she was headed. How unforgivably rude of Kakashi to throw her into this mess with no plan at all. She scowled to herself.

As they followed the carvings, the air changed in quality with a hint of freshness only acquired from the outside. Sakura quickened her pace and there, as they turned a corner, was a blurry spot of brightness in the distance. "I think it's a way out," she said.

Dawn's light washed over Sakura as she took her first steps out of the cave. A open clearing with trees standing on its edges greeted her. There was no sign of where they'd been spit out and no telling how to get back, but they were not surrounded by solid rock and that was good enough. She whooped, jumping high, then hugging Itsuko, who just happened to be closest.

"Who are you?" Sosuke demanded suddenly.

Sakura saw he was addressing a man just beyond the clearing. The stranger stepped forward and she felt her stomach drop when she recognized the silver hair, thinking immediately of the specter, but she became curious when she saw no mask. What kind of trick was this supposed to be? If she squinted and tilted her head, there was a clear resemblance with Kakashi, but this man had features more broadly cut.

The man greeted them with a friendly wave. "Good morning, travelers. I am a simple woodcutter living nearby. Do you need assistance?"

Sakura glanced to the others. In the full light, she almost wanted to laugh how terrible they looked. She didn't blame the woodcutter for his concern. Itsuko, although as beautiful as always, had lost her hair tie sometime ago and her once white priestess robes held a distinctly brown tint. There was an ugly, colorful bruise along Sosuke's hairline that had spread since Sakura last saw it. He pushed his hair out of his face in irritation. Sakura didn't even want to know what her own appearance was like. All of their clothes were torn and patched with blood, only some of it their own. They all looked like they'd just survived an _ordeal_.

Before any of them could answer, their stomachs spoke for them, growling loudly enough to scare a few birds out of the trees. Sakura laughed sheepishly.

"I might have something to eat back at my home," the woodcutter offered.

"Oh no, we couldn't impose on you like that," Sakura said, although the offer was tempting. Hunting and foraging in the woods for a meal did not sound appealing after a night of trying to survive in a cave. To Sosuke she whispered, "Do you have any money?"

Sosuke patted himself down and shook his head. As a vassal of the Taiyo, he generally lived on their expense accounts. Itsuko, on the other hand, managed to produce a small coin purse. However, the woodcutter shook his head when they tried to pay him. "I rarely get visitors in these woods. I have a son, but he never visits. You'll be doing this old man a favor if you tell me a few stories."

They introduced themselves as they followed him back to his home and he told them his name was Sakumo. Sakura was busy trying to figure out where she'd heard that name before. It was like a memory wrapped within another memory. Was he a character in the book she'd missed somehow? But if that was the case, it didn't make sense why he seemed to resemble Kakashi like they were family members.

Behind her, she heard Itsuko speak in a low voice to Sosuke, "Doesn't he remind you of Kurou-sama?"

"I don't see it," replied Sosuke.

Sakumo's home was solidly built, but there was only one room with a fire pit in the center filled with sand. He asked Itsuko and Sosuke to fetch water from a river to the east. As soon as they left, he smiled broadly at Sakura and said, "What took you so long? I've been waiting for you since my troublesome son got himself into this mess."

Sakura leaned back from him in an automatic reaction. "Excuse me?"

"Let me re-introduce myself: I am Hatake Sakumo. Otherwise known as the 'White Fang of Konoha.'"

"Oh, okay." Sakura curled into a tight ball on the floor.

Sakumo's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "You're not surprised? White Fang—you know back in my day I was a little famous."

"When I have the energy to spare, I will give you a better reaction." She was more than drained from these past few days.

"Yikes." Sakumo kneeled in front of the fire pit, adding kindling and fresh logs. "You do know that none of this is real?"

"Of course. I'm trying to remind your son of that too."

"No, I mean," Sakumo paused, then snapped his fingers. Fire burst to life inside the pit, dancing merrily, adding heat to the room. He snapped a few more times and the color of the flames changed from blue, to green, to white, then back to normal. "It's not _real_."

Her eyes almost popped out of her head. She sat up and immediately tried it herself, snapping her fingers together until they felt raw. No matter how many times she did, the fire remained a stubbornly conventional color. "How did you do that?"

"Call me a failsafe, if you will. You're a little too willing to play by the rules. You certainly know by now that, what was it you called it? The specter? He's going to do whatever he wants."

"Don't you think if someone else had figured this out it would make the jutsu really ineffective?"

"This was only meant for you, Sakura. I'm not allowed to appear for anyone else." Sakumo winked. "I guess he's playing favorites."

Her throat swelled. She covered her face, crying, because Kakashi knew she would come for him. He was waiting for her.

"There, there. I know. My son is an idiot," Sakumo said.

That only made her cry louder.

After she calmed down a little, she asked, "How am I supposed to do what you did?"

"It might take some getting used to. I'm not entirely sure myself how I'm doing it, but you're a smart young woman. You'll get it."

Until the others came back, she practiced trying to change the color of the fire while Sakumo told embarrassing stories about his son.

"…then he couldn't get back down from the tree, so instead of waiting, the little fool jumped and broke his arm. He hid it from me for an entire day. I only noticed because he'd suddenly started writing with his right hand instead of his left."

Sakura laughed, squirreling away all of these for a later time. "So he's always hated the hospital?"

"Let me tell you, chasing a three year old in a hospital gown with his butt exposed to the world sounds funny, but it's worrying to hear he's still doing it as a grown man."

"He did that just last year, actually."

Sakumo pinched the bridge of his nose, the same thing Kakashi did when he was in disbelief. "That boy."

"I know you're just a subconscious reflection of his memories of his father, but please tell me more. He'd never admit these things in a million years."

"Get ready," Sakumo said, rubbing his hands together.

#

Note: It's been so long since my last update! I'm sorry. Getting through this chapter was a bit of a struggle because there were a few key moments I wanted to get across, but I was also eager to introduce Sakumo into the story even though I wasn't entirely sure how.

Note 2: I'm just imagining a little side story where Sakura has to chase Kakashi through the hospital, admiring his butt.

Note 3: Thank you for all the kind reviews. I'm always floored by the fact that people are reading this? Like…what? I love you guys.

Note 4: We're nearing the climax of the story. Buckle in! Please leave a review if you can!


	10. Chapter 10

"It's impossible!" Sakura clawed at her eyes. The fire continued to burn in highly conventional colors, mocking her. "Why can't I get this right?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Sakumo held up a sock, examining the hole in the toe. He scooted over to the part of the room where he kept a sewing box and brought it back over. "I probably only can do it because I'm not even real."

"He needs me to do this. That's why he sent you to help me—I can't let him down."

"Relax. Have some faith in what you can do."

"What I _need_ to do is master what you showed me."

"Is that really what you need?" He squinted his eye and held up the needle, trying to gauge where the thread should go.

"Yes." If she could do this, then maybe she wouldn't even need to complete the story at all. She could make her way and find the real Kakashi and hopefully wake him up. "I have to help him."

"You'll be fine. You'll figure it out, just like everything else. He knows you."

She laid back, staring up at the wooden ceiling. "That's a lot of pressure. What does he think I can do that someone else far more qualified than me can't?" Like Ino. Ino knew way more about justus of the mind.

"I guess you'll just have to trust that he trusts you."

"Confusing as hell." Sakura nodded without understanding. "I can see why you're related."

"Like father, like son." He winked.

#

After their meal, Sakumo offered to help them find their way back to the main road. Sosuke crossed his arms, lips twisting into a frown. "Why are you being so helpful?"

"Ah, it is in my nature." Sakumo hauled a pack onto his shoulders.

"We don't have money. Surely you saw that," Sosuke stated bluntly as he trailed after the group out of the cottage. "And the man we seek to rescue cannot provide you a reward."

"Not everything is about what you can get in return, young man."

Sosuke's lips puckered in response. There was no arguing against that. Instead, he spoke in a lowered voice to Sakura, "Did he say anything to you while we were gone? Anything suspicious?"

"No. I think we can trust him."

"I don't like it."

He had grown more comfortable with Sakura, after the initial wariness, but that didn't mean that anyone else could simply pass muster in Sosuke's eyes. She wondered what had changed along the way when he'd decided he could tolerate her enough to confide that he didn't trust someone else for a change.

"He's only taking us as far as the main road," she replied lightly.

"Hmph."

"By the way," she said, grinning wide, "how far away was that creek? It sure took you two a long time to bring back a few buckets of water."

"It was very far." Red dusted Sosuke's cheeks. He stumbled on a root because he wasn't paying attention to the path.

"Mhm." She leaned in closer, lowering her voice, "Do you want to know what she said about you?"

He inhaled sharply. "What?"

"Well," she took a deep breath, knowing she was being somewhat cruel, "nothing. She hasn't said anything to me."

"Oh." He deflated. His eyes followed Itsuko walking ahead of them like a love starved puppy and Sakura felt a stab of pity.

"But if you ask me, I think she likes you a lot."

"Really?"

It was rather odd that Sakura got the feeling that if Sosuke had lived in the real world, he would have a notebook full of poetry dedicated to Itsuko…and possibly with "Mr. and Mrs. Sosuke Whateverhislastnameis" written all over the cover.

"Have you talked to her how you feel?"

He flinched as if Sakura had struck him. "Talked to her?"

"Buddy, how else is she supposed to know?" She rolled her eyes.

"Not everything has to be spoken." He crossed his arms, sniffing. His brow creased as his gaze shifted to Itsuko talking to Sakumo just ahead of them. "It would be foolhardy of me to offer myself. I have no trade except my sword. I've dedicated myself to the Taiyo. I could never give myself to her fully, as she deserves."

Sakura resisted the urge to coo over his tormented, heartbroken mutterings. This was why he was her favorite character. She couldn't stop the sappy smile on her face. "But you love her," she practically sang.

"Keep your voice down!" he hissed.

"It's better to be honest with your feelings."

"You're one to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"This trip has been insufferable, with you and Kurou staring at each other like you are star crossed lovers about to be separated by the heavens." Sosuke snorted.

It was her turn to blush now. "We do _not_."

"What was that about being honest?" Sosuke cocked his head. "You're not allowed to lecture me about this. Admit it. Admit you have feelings for him."

"Why, so you could tell him?" she asked.

"End his misery. I'm begging you. If I hear another sentence out of his mouth pining for you as he tears his hair out over whether you'll leave forever after this—I will take my sword and drag it into my gut."

"He really wants me to stay?"

"Oh, he wants much more than that." Sosuke scratched his chin. "Probably wants you to marry him and bear his children too."

Her jaw dropped and she stopped in her tracks. Sosuke kept going, leaving her behind to stew over his revelations. He had done this on purpose to get back at her for teasing him. She didn't dare hope it was true.

Why would he have feelings for her? She was just the former student that he barely tolerated. Maybe he liked her more than other people…but she had no idea what went on in his head.

….

Right, she was already inside his head.

#

They settled down to eat lunch. Sosuke, despite his insistence of maintaining his distance, paired up with Itsuko almost immediately, choosing to sit with her apart from Sakura and Sakumo.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she bit into her onigiri. Then, a question occurred to her. "Do you think Kakashi has feelings for me?" If Sakumo was tapped into the subconscience in any way, then maybe he would have some answers.

Sakumo paused mid-bite, squinting at her. "Are you serious?"

"I guess you're right. It's impossible." She stared down at her feet.

He started laughing, slapping his knees. "Oh boy."

"Do you think I'm annoying him or something?" she asked anxiously.

Sakumo's lips twisted as he tried not to smile. "You'll have to ask him yourself."

"But you're right here. You could tell me." She poked him. "I think you already know."

"What's the fun in just telling you?"

"I thought you're here to help me." She glared at him.

"I'm here for a very specific reason and it's not for this."

"Pleeeease?"

"Trust me. It'll be better for you to talk to him." He wagged his finger then bit into his rice ball and chewed.

"But it might blow up in my face. He might tell me that he doesn't feel that way about me at all and I'll just look like a fool." Kakashi had practically run away when she'd said that she would _miss_ him. It wasn't like she'd suddenly declared her love for him.

Oh no.

Did she love him?

"You've got a funny look on your face. Here, I'll draw it in the dirt for you," Sakumo said, picking up a stick.

Sakura watched him, her voice sounding far away, "That's pretty good."

He paused, turning to her, then back to his drawing, which was not 'pretty good' by any definition. It was rather unflattering and the eyes were going in different directions.

"I think I might love him," she whispered to herself, not realizing that she was saying it out loud.

"Fantastic!" Sakumo nodded happily. "The other voices in his head will be very pleased."

"Voices?"

"My son has a lot of issues." He grinned. "Good luck!"

#

They reached the main road and Sakumo parted with them. Sosuke watched him go until he disappeared back into the trees.

"Nothing happened. See?" Sakura said, turning away to climb the grassy slope leading to the road.

"I don't understand. Why did he just help us? Who does that?" He threw his hands into the air.

"There are kind people in the world," Itsuko said, tugging on his arm so that he would follow rather than stand there fixated on Sakumo.

Sakura stood on the road and called back, "Are we going to save Kurou or not?"

Sosuke finally snapped out of it, hurrying up the slope. Itsuko trailed after, giggling to herself.

"Was that really not strange to anyone else? Am I the only one?" Sosuke muttered.

"I didn't think his generosity was suspicious—but are you sure you didn't see the resemblance between him and Kurou?" Itsuko asked.

"No," Sakura and Sosuke said at the same time. They looked at each other then looked away.

The road would lead them straight back to the capital. In fact, Sakura could see it on the horizon and she estimated that it would take them perhaps half a day to reach it.

"Those caverns took us really far out," she commented, shading her eyes.

"Indeed. We should be more vigilant from now on. The rebels and the specter are clearly not the only ones we need to worry about." Sosuke tucked his hands into the inside of his robes, lifting his face and listening for any threats.

It would seem that they had reached the point in the story where some of the court factions had begun to move. Sakura sighed. Originally, Itsuko's kidnapping had been resolved with Kurou and Sosuke saving the day. No cave-in. Plus, there was the reveal that an evil lord opposing Itsuko's mother for the throne was entering the game. They were way off at this point.

As they got closer to the capital, it became clear that something was amiss. The usual traffic headed down the road was nonexistant. The fields they passed smoldered, the crops blackened to ash which rose up at the slightest breeze, coloring the air in a cloud of dust. A kind of smothered silence followed their footsteps, broken only by the wings of crows taking flight.

The only living souls they saw was a woman with a child on her back, who ran at the sight of them even though they called out to her. Sakura cast a worried glance back at her companions, disliking the sense of dread hanging in the air.

She jerked in surprise when a series sharp cracks, like ice breaking over a frozen lake, rattled her ear drums. The ground shook. "Get down!" she ordered, flattening herself to the dirt, the others following her lead without question.

Fissures punched through the emptied fields, a strange glow of light glaring through the raw openings. The trembling beneath them stopped. Sakura cautiously got to her feet, scanning the area around them and keeping her ears on alert. Sosuke's grip never left his sword. The grim line of his lips deepened, his gaze fixing on the sudden appearance of the jagged edges before them.

Both Sakura and Sosuke stepped protectively in front of Itsuko, readying themselves based on a sense of danger that both of their instincts picked upon at once.

The sight of a pale hand bursting out of the crack and clawing the edge sent a shot of frost down Sakura's back. A boy dragged himself out. Gray ash fell from his spiky black locks with his jerky movements. His flesh was mottled, blackened in areas and missing entirely in some places, leaving the tendons and muscles beneath exposed. She had no idea who he was, except that he did not belong to this story, just as the specter did not.

One eye, his only eye, blazed a furious red. The sharingan. A gaping hole sat in the other socket that left his skull partially caved in.

He cocked his head, cracking the bones inside his neck. A smile like a thin knife growing as he took the sight of her in. It was then that Sakura realized that a girl with a crater in her chest had also appeared out of the earth. Much of her scalp was left exposed beneath the thin threads of brown hair still there. Both of them wore scratched up forehead protectors with the sigil of Konoha carved into the metal.

More followed with increasing speed.

Zabuza. Haku. Itachi. She didn't stay any longer to see how many more of the dead would appear. They had to get behind the walls of the capital.

"Run!" she screamed.

Note: Sorry about the belated update! Please leave a review~~


	11. Chapter 11

It was a strange thing to say that this was not the first time Sakura had been pursued by the dead, but it was the truth. There were a surprising amount of jutsus out there that dealt in matters no one should mess with. That, however, did nothing to quell the nausea that rose in her whenever she dwelled for too long on the _wrongness_ of what was happening. There were many faces she did not know, but she clearly recognized Zabuza and Haku, who had haunted her own dreams after her first serious mission in Wave Country. Her own demons had sprung to life and she wasn't sure how she was going to deal with this after she came out of the jutsu.

She tried to remember her training and keep her breathing under control. It was at times like these that a shinobi had to control the natural panic that arose in the face of an insane situation. One mistake, one slip up. That was the difference between surviving and dying.

She couldn't make full use of her agility either, keeping in mind to let Itsuko keep up with their pace. She had seen Sosuke move at great speeds in battle and knew he was consciously staying close to the priestess too.

"They're catching up," Sakura said. Her voice was partially swallowed up by the air whipping past them. "Itsuko, get on my back." She hated to do this, knowing how humiliating it could be to the other woman.

"I can carry her," Sosuke said.

"Now is not the time!" This man and his jealousy—even at a crucial moment like this. Sakura slowed, bending forward slightly and shortly after felt Itsuko's weight settle over her.

"I'm sorry," Itsuko whispered, tears and shame thick in her throat.

"Hush," Sakura said. She understood what it felt like to be considered a burden and never wanted to inflict that onto someone else.

Cracks in the earth raced along with them, forcing them to leap to solid ground when a fissure broke directly beneath their feet. They were definitely moving faster now, but the pursuing dead were nightmares incarnate whose advance was more accelerated than she had ever seen their real life counterparts move.

Because they were not limited by reality.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shards of deep darkness revealed by the ground breaking beneath them. The land they stood on was merely a thin crust. There was something unknown below—perhaps accessible now because of the jutsu failing around her. If she was still in Kakashi's mind while it broke, would she be trapped with him? Where did this darkness lead?

Sakura bit into her lower lip as Sakumo's lesson came back to her. Could she take this chance now? Maybe she didn't have a choice. The unnatural energy signatures on the edge of her senses prickled like hot needles.

"Sosuke, I'm going to punch a hole into the ground. We're going to jump in," Sakura said.

"What good is that going to do?" he exclaimed.

"Get us out of this." Hopefully. She inhaled, gathering chakra into her core. "Hold on, Itsuko!"

Using every bit of strength, Sakura vaulted forward, smashing her fist into the earth upon landing. She aimed directly at a crack that had already formed, widening it into a passage into the empty space, so dark it seemed to be a solid wall of black. She was correct—there really was nothing below the shell. She fell. It was less by her own momentum and more like she was drawn in by an unseen force.

Sosuke dropped after her just a few seconds later and Sakura was grateful that he had trusted her one more time.

Itsuko's arms tightened in fear as she whispered, "What now?"

"We go find him." Nothing to grab to slow her descent. No ground to angle her descent. She was at a terrifying and complete loss of control of everything…except for herself. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, reaching out and gripping Sosuke by the arm, just in case she lost him. She took a breath, concentrating on Kakashi, wherever he was, calling out to him through this void with all of her heart.

She thought of him, the real him, the man who had been her teacher, with all of his flaws and the feelings that he evoked in her. She couldn't imagine a world without him. She couldn't leave this place without him by her side. There was still so much she needed to say to him. The idea of expressing all the realizations she had made felt just as terrifying as falling through this infinite unknown space, but more than anything, she _wanted_ to take that leap.

In his own, strange roundabout way, he had been trying to tell her something too.

She landed in a heap on something solid—no, on someone.

Kakashi grunted in pain because the point of her elbow was jammed into his gut. "Hello?"

Sakura cried out incoherently, throwing herself on him and pressing a kiss on his lips, forgetting to keep her restraint in the face of the immense relief of having survived. She remembered a moment too late their situation, who she was supposed to be, before breaking away and meeting the shock in his eyes. "Sorry," she blurted.

He brought his hand behind her head and brought her back down to his lips again. She melted against him in the delicious pleasure of the kiss. The small sigh she emitted made him clutch her more tightly and she had the distinct thought that there were too many layers of clothing between them.

Sosuke coughed pointedly. Sakura flushed red, sitting up, but still straddling the man beneath her. She was relieved to see that even though she had forgotten about Itsuko almost entirely for a few moments, the priestess had discreetly extracted herself some time ago (hopefully before the impromptu makeout session) and was standing a respectable distance away.

Kakashi turned his head and glared at Sosuke. "Why do you have to be in my dream?"

"This is not a dream," Sosuke replied, scowling. A lot of strange things had happened to him in the past few days and it appeared that he no longer wished to question it. Those questions would only lead to more questions in a neverending loop. There was just no time for that.

"Speak some sense, dream-Sosuke. Sakura falling on me out of thin air and then kissing me is not something that happens in real life," Kakashi said.

"I don't know how she did it." Sosuke eyed the cramped cell and how uncomfortably close all of them were presently.

They all looked to the gaping hole in the ceiling, which didn't show the floor above, but the same pure black void they had jumped through.

Sakura stood up, straightening her clothes, trying to bring her focus back from the kiss that had just knocked every wit she had into the stratosphere. Who taught this man how to kiss like that? "Sosuke is right. We're here to get you out."

"I can't leave," Kakashi said, slowly shaking his head.

Sakura took hold of his arm, tugging on it as if she could drag him against his will. She would throw him over her shoulder, cave-man style if it came to it. She was _not_ going to let him die by zombie. "Don't be silly. We know you were framed and there's no need to be executed over it."

"If I leave, it will only confirm that I was the assassin." Kakashi gently pried her fingers from his wrist. He patted her hand. "It would be best if all of you leave."

"The clan would suffer disgrace for certain," Sosuke muttered.

"Screw the clan!" Sakura reached down, picking up Kakashi as if he weighed nothing and setting him on his feet. "Where I come from, there has been nothing but grief because of the clans. All I know right now is that there are people I care about and those are the ones I'm going to protect. I will _not_ leave you after the hell I've been through."

Kakashi brushed her cheek with a light touch. "You don't understand."

"No, you don't understand." Sakura jabbed his chest. "I made a promise to everyone who cares about you that I would get you out of this—" His brows drew together in confusion, "—and you are not going to make a liar out of me."

He would have stepped back from her if he could. There was suspicion written all over his face. "Who are you, really?"

Sakura went up to the front of the cell and used her strength to push through the heavy wooden bar keeping the door locked in place. Standing in the open frame, she looked back at Kakashi, locking eyes with him. "I'm the woman here to free you."

Kakashi remained silent, scrutinizing her, just as he did the day she had an audience with him at the Taiyo complex. Before he could answer, someone else fell through the opening in the ceiling on top of him.

Sakura's stomach twisted as the stench of rotting flesh filled the air. One of the dead had followed them.

The unknown shinobi boy with the crushed face wrapped his gnarled hands around Kakashi's throat, a broken chuckle burbling from his gaping mouth.

"O-Obito," Kakashi choked out.

That stopped Sakura in her tracks just as she was about to rip the dead boy off of her friend. Kakashi _recognized_ him. She shook the revelation off and kept going, wrenching Obito into the hall. She narrowed her eyes up at the opening. They had escaped, but she had led the dead straight to Kakashi. "I don't know how many more might come through. You can't stay here."

Kakashi ignored her, pushing her aside and going to the open doorway of the cell. He slumped against the frame. His voice cracked in pain. "Why do I know this boy?"

Obito snarled and got on all fours, ready to lunge. Sakura grabbed Kakashi's hand and pulled him along, trusting that the others would follow them down the hallway. The prisoners they passed slammed against their wooden bars, begging to be freed also.

"The rebels will be here," one claimed. "They'll slaughter everyone on the palace grounds!"

They turned a corner, only to be met by a rush of guards. Sakura swooped low, delivering a few punches to their guts and knocking them off balance. Kakashi and Sosuke managed to knock them unconscious after her and they stepped over their bodies and kept going. Sakura barely noticed that Kakashi's hand was in hers again.

Obito was relentless, pursuing them no matter how many times they fought him off. He forced his broken and mangled body forward in his single minded goal of tearing all of them apart. The screams of the other prisoners echoed from the hallway they had just left behind. It mingled with inhuman screeches Sakura identified in the back of her mind as that of the dead. Her fears were confirmed. The dead were somehow using the shortcut she had created just as Obito had.

"That's the way to get above ground." Kakashi pointed to the stone stairway ahead of them. The door at the top burst open, flooding the area with light and soldiers.

They fought their way up, leaving anyone who survived as a distraction to Obito. The soldiers forgot the escaping fugitives once they realized there was a monster in their midst with more coming at them from the depths of the dungeons. Their ranks became a jumbled mess of fear. Sakura and Kakashi broke free from the tangle of soldiers first, then Sosuke and Itsuko pushing through shortly after.

They found themselves somewhere deep within the palace grounds. Sakura searched for the main building in an attempt to orient herself. She said, "I think we are in the eastern area. We should head for the edges—I can break through the walls and get us out."

The palace grounds was like its own city within a city, a complicated labyrinth of streets and buildings. Strangely, they passed no servants or other inhabitants that would normally be walking the area. Small trays of food had been left behind on the walkways wrapping around living areas. Papered doors were left open after a hasty escape.

Sakura, sensing energy signatures approaching, ordered her group to duck into the narrow alley between two buildings. Swarms of soldiers, armed for battle, jogged by with a muted thunder of heavy boots pounding the path.

"The rebels are at the gates!" the captain of the squadron shouted as they moved in the exact direction Sakura and her friends were headed before.

Sakura cursed. All of the palace forces would be concentrating there then. They would have to take a different path. She peered around the corner, making sure the coast was clear. Her stomach dropped.

Hordes of the dead, even more than there had been before, lurched towards them only a short distance away, blocking their path. Her initial thought was to go further into the alley and find a way around, but there was one problem with that: the specter decided then to make a reappearance, dropping down and blocking the way she would have taken. It was as if the jutsu had decided that this was the best moment for everything to go to shit all at once.

"Why now?" Sakura hissed, jumping back, forced out of the space along with the others by the specter's charge.

It was then that Kakashi noticed the dead too. He froze, unable to tear his eyes away as he looked upon the walking corpses. "I know them," he rasped. His breathing came in short, uneven bursts. The slight tremble in his shoulders grew into a violent shudder.

He bent over and began screaming, hitting the ground with his fists. A spiderweb of cracks ringed around him. Sakura's attention flew to the sky. A dark red, like old blood, crept up from the horizon until it smothered the entire expanse.

She went to Kakashi's side, but nervously glanced over at Sosuke who was keeping the specter at bay. "Snap out of it—you have to snap out of it!"

He shook, curling into himself. She wrapped her arms around him, whispering, begging. Hot tears fell from her face. The jutsu couldn't fail now. Not now.

"Kakashi," she whispered.

He flinched, head jerking up. "What did you call me?"

"That's your name." She choked out a sob. "You taught me, you were my captain, and you are one of my dearest friends. We've fought monsters and enemies together and beat impossible odds. Please stand—stand and fight by my side again." She tore the chakra blade that had been strapped to her back. "This is yours. Your clan name is inscribed on it."

He took it. There was a quiver in his hands as he unsheathed it. He stared at the steel, the metal catching the remaining light.

Sakura was forced to leave his side to fight off the dead that reached for him. She kept up a silent prayer that he would regain his senses. Please. One more time. He was so strong—just one more small miracle from the man she had come to expect the impossible from.

Behind her, so quietly she thought perhaps she had misheard, he breathed out, "Hatake."

She focused on the battle and keeping them alive as he remained on the ground. Filthy, skeletal hands clawed at her with unnatural strength. Their eyes were filmed by a gooey layer of sickly blue, unblinking as they continued their mindless attack.

A crackle of energy sparked through air and, for a moment, Sakura despaired that the specter had pulled out its own blade.

She was wrong.

Kakashi sliced through the ghosts of his past in a blaze of white electricity. Laughter, bordering on hysterical, escaped her lips to see him move like that again. To fight like himself again. He had been just a shadow of his form before this. There was no doubt that the man using this weapon could be none other than one of the most infamous ninja of their village.

Itsuko's shriek pierced the air. She was backing up against a wall as the dead pressed in around her. Sosuke shouted her name, but he was caught still in his battle with the specter. Sakura jumped high, using the dead as stepping stones to get to Itsuko more quickly. Kakashi followed using a different method, clearing a path for himself through force. The dead could not die again, but the chakra blade cut through their putrid flesh, often times splitting their bodies apart and leaving them immobile on the ground.

Sakura was too keenly aware of everything that could go wrong. Sosuke could lose to the specter. Itsuko was a vulnerable target. Kakashi's mind could break. This might be her last chance. It was very likely, given the state of the jutsu now, that there would be no do-over.

But the story wasn't over here. She didn't know what to do to free herself and him.

"Sakura," Kakashi said as he fought off another corpse. "I remember who I am."

"That's really great." She grit her teeth, punching a hole through a body. As happy as she was to have him back, their situation was not made any better because of it. "We'll celebrate in just a second, when we're not about to die."

"We have to get to Sosuke. There's no way that he'll last for much longer—you know what'll happen."

"I've been through this a few times. You don't have to tell me twice." Sakura looked over her shoulder at Itsuko. "Try to stay between us until we can get to Sosuke."

Itsuko recognized there had been a change in Kakashi, but knew better than to ask about it now. She nodded.

They were halfway there when the ground shook again. The sky that changed colors earlier had yet to revert back. The cracks in the earth deepened, splitting and falling away into the void beneath the shell of the jutsu.

Sakura turned sharply to Kakashi. "Are you all right?"

"It's not going to hold up anymore. I hadn't counted on the layers of my subconscious to rise up like this." He panted, grimacing as he plunged his blade into the dead. He quickly shoved the body away and pressed his lips into a thin line. As horrific as it was for Sakura, she could only imagine what kind of hell he was going through right now.

Entire chunks of the ground beneath them dropped away, taking some of the dead with it, back down from the dark place where they'd emerged.

"Sakura," Kakashi said suddenly. "I'm sending you back. The longer you're here, the more you're at risk."

"I told you before: I'm not leaving without you."

"Now is not the time to be stubborn!" He grunted and shoved the opponent he was engaged with into the hole.

Much of the world had crumbled away, leaving floating debris and small hunks of the earth in a blanket space. Even the sky began to fall, as if it had been a ceiling stretching above them this entire time. They leapt from place to place on the remaining pieces of ground to get to Sosuke. They reached him just as the specter had him backed onto the edge of the land that served as their limited battlefield.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Obito leap from his piece of land onto Sosuke's back. The unexpected weight anchored Sosuke backwards, causing them both to drop.

" _No_." Sakura pushed herself to reach him in time.

"Sosuke!" Itsuko slid on her feet, unable to balance herself on the ground tilting below her. She screamed his name again as she watched the man she loved disappear from her sight.

The last of the jutsu broke in that moment, all semblance of the illusion dissolving into the blank space.

Sakura fell. Where she was falling to or if there was a bottom to land on, she didn't know. She managed to see Itsuko and Sosuke find each other before they too faded away. They may not have been real, but they had been her friends. The tears from her eyes drifted upwards, away from her.

"Sakura," Kakashi called out to her, reaching to her. "Go back. _Now_."

The tips of her fingers brushed against his and then managed to grab onto his hand. "What will happen to you if I go? You might be here forever."

"I knew that risk when I did this. I just didn't think he would show up." He jerked his head toward the specter, who fell with them.

"Why is he still here?" The other pieces of the jutsu had gone.

"He's a part of me. I didn't intend it, but there were parts of me that split apart. That's why I was stuck—I couldn't bring myself together." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Do you understand? You can't save me so at least save yourself. It might not be too late."

Her gaze lingered on the specter, who stared blankly back at her. The chilling words it had spoken to her, the only words it had spoken throughout this experience, echoed back in her mind. The undercurrents of the statement churned beneath its emotionless delivery. It came from a part of Kakashi's life she had never known and perhaps was afraid to know. There was no spark of the man she knew in this version of him…but it was still a part of Kakashi.

She had found him once before. Maybe she could put him back together too.

"I might be able to fix this," she said.

"Don't take the risk. I never would have asked you to come here if I had known what a shit show it would become." He brushed back her hair. A futile effort, given that the force of falling blew her locks in every direction.

Sakura didn't answer him. She tightened her grip on him, closing her eyes. She called back to everything he had shown her. Every emotion she'd uncovered along the way, the crushing grief, loneliness, and pain he kept close to his heart—but there was more to him that. Through it all, he was still able to go on and survive.

She thought of the specter, but also of the boy she had seen mourning the death of his teammate and friend. She thought of her teacher. She thought of the man who argued with her about a silly book series as if they were theories on the highest shinobi arts.

 _I'm here_ , she called to him silently. _Come back to me, Kakashi._

Then, she felt the edges of his consciousness respond, reaching out to her. She reached back, opening her heart and mind, acting as a beacon.

"Sakura."

She opened her eyes and found both the specter and Kakashi gone. Panic flooded her. She'd made a mistake. Something had gone wrong.

"Sakura. It's okay." Kakashi's voice came from somewhere she couldn't see, echoing around her. It surrounded her completely.

Slowly, the rate of her descent came to a gentle halt, as if she were being lowered by ropes onto solid ground. She was able to stand on her feet, although there was still nothing but the void around her. The edges of the darkness began to fade into a pure light that nearly blinded her.

"Wait—Kakashi." Had it worked? Why wasn't he saying anything?

"It's going to be okay," his voice responded, already knowing what she was going to ask.

She fell to her knees as she felt her connection to his mind break.

#

Sakura opened her eyes again in the real world. The heart rate monitor beeped steadily, the sound becoming clearer as she woke. Someone had put a blanket around her shoulders, which fell to the linoleum floor when she shifted. Her fingers were tangled with Kakashi's and she squeezed his hand affectionately. She raised her head slowly, looking to his face first.

"Kakashi?" she rasped, her throat dry from disuse. Her body felt heavy now that she was outside of the jutsu. It was a real weight she hadn't been aware of before.

Initially, there was no response. She tried not to let the disappointment overwhelm her. Maybe it would take more time for him to wake up.

Or maybe he never would.

She put her head back down, sighing. All she could do was wait.

The heartrate monitor flatlined. She jumped, ready to perform an emergency ressusitation if needed. Her hands already glowed with chakra, but they returned to their normal state just a second later. She met his gaze as he sheepishly smiled at her. He held out the pulse oximeter he'd just taken off of his finger.

"Can you shut that thing off for me?" he asked. His voice was gravelly and subdued, unlike what she had heard when she was still in his mind, but it was him. The real him.

She wailed, throwing her arms over him. He stiffened in surprise, but eventually stroked her hair and made calming noises.

A nurse burst through the door, obviously because the vital signs of the patient had suddenly ceased. When she saw that Kakashi had taken off the clip off of his finger, she glared at the two. "Sakura, you know better than to let him do that. You almost gave me a stroke."

"I'm sorry." Sakura was a little annoyed that she was the one doing the apologizing when it had been his fault. "He just woke up and the first thing he did was to take the damn thing off."

"Typical." The nurse huffed. Kakashi's famous dislike of the hospital was well known by the members of the staff. "I think I liked him better when he was unconscious."

"I'll check him over."

The nurse nodded and left.

Sakura straightened, wiping away her happy tears, composing herself again. She reached around the machine and shut it off.

Kakashi sighed in relief. "Thanks."

She rummaged through the pouch around her waist for the small flashlight she would use to check his pupils. "I can't believe you did that." She snorted. She tried to sound as admonishing as possible, but it was difficult given how happy she was to talk to him again.

"The sound was getting to me. It woke me up from a really interesting dream."

"I'll bet." She grinned, leaning over and adjusting the bed so that he was sitting upright. She removed the eyepatch covering the left side of his face. "Keep your eyes open." His pupils reacted normally to the light she flashed on them, even the sharingan.

"Sakura, thank you." He looked down after she was finished.

"I'm just glad you're back," she responded softly. She touched his cheek before remembering herself. Whatever had happened inside the jutsu—she wasn't certain where that put them here in the real world.

"Me too." He met her eyes this time.

They didn't talk for the rest of the diagnostic exam. The silence was comfortable, as it usually was between them, but she was still holding back everything she wanted to talk to him about. Her questions. Her realizations about…them. That could wait until he had recovered a little more.

She didn't know what to make of the way he continued to watch her. Finally, she asked, "What?"

"This is real, right?"

She was taken aback by his doubt. "Of course it is." Then again, she herself had witnessed the illusion created by the jutsu. It made sense that he would question reality. She hooked her pinky finger into his. "I promise."

"That's exactly what you would say, if you were not real."

She snorted. "You'll just have to see then, mister."

He settled back onto his pillows after she took her hands off of him, mumbling as he fell asleep again, "I don't think I could make such a perfect copy of you in my head, anyway."


	12. Chapter 12

Sakura leaned back in the armchair, rubbing her eyes as Ino came back into the room with a tray of steaming mugs. She had been at her friend's apartment for hours now, answering question after question, each one of her responses recorded meticulously by Ino in a spiral notebook with flowers doodled on the cover.

The plush velvet furniture was starting to make Sakura's butt uncomfortably warm despite the chilly autumn weather outside. The clock on the wall read two hours past noon. Hopefully, Kakashi was still in the hospital where she had left him that morning, but she harbored no doubts that he would escape as soon as he could stand.

She rested her cheek in the palm of her hand, tapping her fingertips below the delicate skin of her eye. The Yamanaka clan had a keen interest in what had gone down in the jutsu. Sakura was just glad that they had sent her friend for the interview, rather than a stranger, but she still couldn't help dodging the answers to some of the inquiries. Too personal. Too close to Kakashi. Ino's blue eyes narrowed everytime she sensed that Sakura wasn't giving the full story, though thankfully, she didn't push. Maybe Ino understood that it was not Sakura's place to describe parts of what she had seen.

However, sometimes Sakura couldn't answer because…she just wasn't sure. She often had to ask herself what she had actually experienced versus what she thought might have happened.

When Sakura confessed this, Ino tilted her head as she read over what she had written down. "It makes sense that your memories are becoming unclear. From what you described, it confirmed to me how intense the illusion within the jutsu could be." She placed the tip of the pen into the margin where she doodled a star. "The disorientation could just be a coping mechanism from the strain."

Sakura frowned. "But what about Kakashi then?" He had been in the jutsu for longer than her. Nobody knew by how much.

Even now, he could barely open his eyes for more than five minutes at a time. The effort it took drained him terribly.

After a while, Sakura was able to beg off more questioning for another day. Although there was nothing she wanted except to fall face first into her bed, she dragged herself back to the hospital to check up on Kakashi.

The rubber soles on her shoes squeaked against the floor as she took the first few steps forward in disbelief. Why she was in disbelief, she didn't quite know. This was what she had been afraid of all along.

The room was just as she'd left it that morning except for one glaring difference—the bed was empty, the rumpled sheets left in his wake still warm from the impression left behind by his body. Thin plastic tubes that had once been attached to him dangled uselessly in the air. A sweet, fruity scent lingered against the overpowering odor of disinfectant that permeated the whole building. She had cut an apple and left it on the bedside table in the unlikely case that Kakashi woke and would want a snack. The plastic film over the apples had been peeled back and every slice was missing. At least there was that.

She flushed. Had his inability to remain conscious just been an act? Maybe, but it could also have been that his desire to leave the hospital was great enough that he would force his body to the brink. Either way, she had to find him. Yell at him. Cry. Kiss him, perhaps.

He was clearheaded enough to ditch the tracking tag she had earlier slipped into his pocket. She picked up the tiny chip of painted wood from the ground where she had found it in an alleyway. That idiot. A stream of even less complimentary names followed in her mind without break for pause. If she had said them out loud, she would have died from oxygen deprivation.

She checked his apartment, his favorite tree, Ichiraku—all of the usual places. No one had seen that shock of silver hair for six month, since he left for his mission then. Of course. They had not even been aware of the critical state he had been in. She didn't have time to explain, running off with a hasty apology the second they failed to tell her what she needed.

Her heart began to thump in steady panic as almost two hours passed and she still hadn't found him. The people walking by her in the street went about their day, completely oblivious to her and her crisis. She searched their faces, the paranoid, ridiculous thought occurring to her that maybe Kakashi had donned a disguise. _Get a hold of yourself_.

Finally, she ran into Tenten, who mentioned that she had spotted Kakashi wandering around the training grounds, but hadn't thought much of it at the time. That was understandable. Kakashi escaping in hospital clothes was something that happened like clockwork. A familiar sight to anyone who knew him even in passing.

Tenten's brows drew together. "He did seem a little…out of it. More than usual."

Sakura managed to thank Tenten before making a beeline for the village gates.

The afternoon light cast long, thin shadows over the training grounds. She nearly broke into tears at the sight of him standing there, tall and gaunt, the clothes hanging off him him making it painfully clear that there wasn't much to his frame at the moment. He had always been lean, but his flesh had never been stretched so tightly over jutting bone before.

"Kakashi?" The name came out of her as a soft whisper, so quiet that it surprised her when his head lifted and turned towards her in response.

His eye creased into a smile as he recognized her. "You're late, for once."

She stopped in confusion. Carefully, she asked, "What do you mean?"

Her hesitation made his smile disappear. "I thought—You told me…" He shook his head, his shoulders hunching as he shrank into himself.

"Come on." She took his hand and he let her guide him back within the walls of the village. His grip tightened with every passing second as he stared off into the distance in silence.

Before she could ask what was wrong, he announced that was hungry. That was a good, even if it might have been a lie. Anyway, she had wanted to make certain that he ate today. He had questionable eating habits whenever he was under stress.

They ducked beneath short curtain flaps hung over the door of a restaurant that seemed to be squashed in between two much larger buildings. The inside was only wide enough for a single row of tables. The patrons and staff alike greeted Kakashi with familiarity and he raised his hand, saying "Yo."

The menu was pasted on the wall on strips of yellowed paper and faded ink. Just a few dishes, less than what Sakura could count on one hand. Thick planks of wood nailed together served as the tables and benches. The floor was little more than hardpacked dirt, but the savory smells in the air were fairly promising. She almost laughed when Kakashi went through the old routine of patting his pockets for the wallet they both knew wasn't there. For once, she didn't begrudge paying for his meal.

They told the cook standing behind the counter in the back what they wanted before sitting down. A man came out of the kitchen shortly after with a tray of tea and their food. Dark brown roots showed through his bleached yellow hair, which was neatly held back by headband. He took one look at Kakashi and grinned. "Hatake, where have you been?"

"I got a little lost, but I'm back now," Kakashi took out a pair of chopsticks from the holder on the edge of the table and handed it to Sakura.

"You don't bring people here." The man eyed her curiously.

"Ah. Is that so? I could have sworn I brought Gai one time."

She gave a little wave. "Hello, I'm Sakura."

"Please to meet you. I'm Ukai," the man quickly informed her before turning back to Kakashi. "You talkin' about that green dude? Once. Two years ago."

Kakashi made a humming noise in the back of his throat as if he didn't agree or disagree with this statement. As if him visiting a restaurant with an old friend was a secret he would take to the grave.

Ukai sighed, shaking his head ruefully, the tips of his blond spikes moving like leaves on a branch. He winked at Sakura. "You're going to have a handful with this one."

"Trust me. I know," she replied, leveling a pretend scowl on Kakashi, although he was pointedly being obvlivious.

"Hospital clothes again, huh?" Ukai plucked the thin cloth of Kakashi's shirt over the shoulder. "At least it's not the one with the open back this time. I had to bleach the bench after you came in a while back."

"Are you serious?" Sakura huffed.

"Escaping is hungry work." Kakashi leaned over his bowl, inhaling the steam rising from the broth.

Ukai chuckled and turned away to refill another customer's tea. Kakashi slurped down the udon noodles, almost choking on them. She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. So he hadn't been lying about being hungry after all. "Good?" she teased.

His head moved up and down, his mouth too full to speak. The white medical mask was tucked below his chin. He didn't seem to care or notice.

Sakura smiled to herself, then took her first bite of the noodles. "Wow, why _haven't_ you taken me here before?"

"I guess I've never had a chance."

"You could have mentioned it everytime Naruto decided where we were going to eat. I love Ichiraku and all, but if there was another option, I'd gladly have taken it."

He wagged his finger and clicked his tongue. "I'll tell that to the boss and his feelings will be hurt."

She rolled her eyes. "So this is where you go when you escape from the hospital? Are you sure you want me to know this?"

"I realize it's a be a great trust I've bestowed upon you, but I think you can handle it."

Her mouth opened for a retort when his words registered. She stared at him as a glow of happiness made her feel warm from head to toe. The moment stretched until she realized she had been studying him for longer than was considered polite and she changed the subject.

"You know what I'm kind of sad about?" She stirred her broth with her chopsticks, picking up more noodles. "Itsuko and Sosuke are just gone now, aren't they?"

"…The characters from 'The Royal Romances' series?"

"Yea. They were there, remember?"

"It comes and goes." Kakashi sighed. He rubbed his uncovered eye. "Has it been that way for you?"

"Sort of." She tilted her head, frowning. "But those two were a big part of it." They had been there for the entire journey, in fact. Did he not retain at least that?

"All I can remember is…well, what I can remember isn't much." He shook his head. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

His eye creased in a smile and she found that even though she had seen his whole, unmarked face in the jutsu, this was the one that she prefered. The eyepatch hiding the sharingan. The medical mask casually tugged aside, but ready to hide his face again. This was the face of a man who knew her—really knew her. She could lean over and kiss this face, if she were bold enough.

They ate the rest of their food as Sakura relayed their adventures. Just her favorite parts—the ones that _she_ could remember, anyway. It was different than telling it to Ino. These felt like old, comfortable stories, as good as the ones from the days of Team 7.

"I was a better teacher than you ever were, in my opinion." She snorted after telling him about trying to teach the group chakra control.

"I came here to have a nice meal with you and you attack me like this."

"Itsuko was the best at it. She would have made a great kunoichi."

He chuckled softly. "Write to the author with that idea. Can you imagine the next book?"

They finished eating, but she didn't want to leave him just yet. She deliberately came up with an excuse on the spot, mentioning, "That reminds me—the next book is coming out soon. You need to catch up."

"It's good then that I'll have some down time for a bit."

"Come to my place. I'll give you the ones you need to read still."

On their way to her apartment, they passed by a store where the owner had left the radio on the counter. The catchy beat could be heard through the open door. Kakashi stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Sakura turned to look back at him.

"This. Song."

She paid it more attention this time, because she hadn't been at all before. Recognition made a smile creep up on her face and she slunk up to him, her voice teasing. "What about it?"

"Booty Hotline," he hissed through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you remember that, huh?"

"I feel like it's the only thing I can remember now."

" _Dancing, moving, shake your, shake your booty_ —" she started crooning, completely gleeful at his irritation.

"Please."

"— _What will it take to take you home with me—"_ she twirled on one foot, but then he took her by the shoulders and stopped her. Her stomach fluttered, because suddenly his face was so close that he was all that she could see.

"I remember you," he murmured.

"Huh?" Of course he remembered her. They'd known each other for years now. Oh no, was he losing his actual memories because of the strain?

He rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "I remember you fighting for me in there. I remember hearing you call for me. I—I remember trying to call back."

"Kakashi," she said softly, her hand going up to cradle his cheek.

"And yes, I remember that terrible song." He broke into a laugh that she shared with him.

An old woman passing by nodded at them. "Must be nice, being young and in love."

They broke apart, both of their faces red. Sakura's heart hammered hard in her chest. What was that? What did it mean? These kinds of questions continued to plague her all the way back to her apartment.

"H-here they are." She reappeared from her bedroom with the books. Her voice was a tad bit higher than normal.

"Thank you." He took them with both hands, staring at the cover of the one on top. "I suppose I should be going now."

"I mean, you don't have to…I was just going to read over a few of the earlier books tonight…" She fixed her gaze on her bare toes.

There was a pause where she couldn't bring herself to breathe. Then, he said, "Well, if you don't mind the company."

"Oh, I don't!"

After the first night, the ritual they had before started to form again. It wasn't always reading. Sometimes, Sakura would bring work home and Kakashi would just happen to have takeout to share. Or she would go to his place and they would get into a heated debate about theories on the book. Theories that no longer had to do with what would happen in the 'canon' of the story, but what might have been if the characters had been living in different situations.

On a particularly lively evening, they basically wrote a story based on the idea of Itsuko being a kunoichi rather than a priestess. They spent hours in her kitchen, going back and forth with suggestions until late into the night. Sakura declared that it was so brilliant they should just change the names and try to get it published. She tapped the pages of their scribbled notes with a smile.

Kakashi grinned back, dragging his chair closer to get a better look. There was hardly any space between them. When she noticed his gaze flick to her lips with interest, she held her breath.

Her treacherous mind would not let her forget that she had kissed him when they had been inside the jutsu. She hadn't known how to bring it up. Besides, what would she have said? That she realized she had fallen in love with him when they had both been stuck inside his mind?

Their eyes met and she made her decision. She leaned in slowly, although there wasn't much of a gap left to close, giving him the chance to pull away.

He didn't.

Their lips brushed together, the slight touch sending sweet tingles through her body. When his mouth opened, she deepened the kiss, sighing happily as she felt his hands encircle her waist and draw her closer to himself.

She slipped his shirt over his head. The need to feel his skin beneath threatened to burn her from the inside out. He had, thankfully, almost returned to his normal weight in the weeks since he left the hospital. Still a bit too thin, in her opinion, but she relished rise and fall of his muscles, tensing beneath her touch.

Then there was a twinge in her neck from the odd angle she had it in. She pulled back with a wince. "I'm getting a cramp. Couch or bed?"

"Bed," he managed to say while pressing his lips against her throat at the same time. She hooked her fingers into the waist of his pants, pulling him to his feet, hips first.

They left a trail of clothes that led to her room. She pushed him back onto the mattress, climbing over him, planting kisses as she moved up his body until she reached his face. Both of his eyes were visible now that his forehead protector was gone, the normal gray pupil and the sharingan. It reminded her a little too much of her battle with the specter, when she had taken off the mask and discovered a younger version of Kakashi beneath. There was still so much she didn't know about him.

It occurred to her as she watched him turn his head, muffling his groan into the pillow as she rolled her hips down, that she may never know as much as she needed to about him. He interrupted her thoughts, flipping their positions, asking if she was ready.

She nodded, moaning as he pushed himself inside her fully and he strangled out something incoherent in conjunction with her name.

Her hips lifted and she clawed at the sheets because he remained still over her. "Move!"

"Sorry." He braced himself against the headboard, his jaw clenched. "It's been a while."

"Yea, me too—which is why I'm going to need you to collect yourself very soon."

He nuzzled her throat, chuckling. "I like how demanding you are in bed." A slow, languid thrust that left her whimpering for more. "Is this better?"

"N-not enough." She grasped his upperarms, fingertips digging into the flesh.

He whispered in her ear as he picked up his rhythm, wonderful, dirty things, encouraging her to voice more of her demands, but she was starting to lose her ability to talk because of him. Finally, she managed to open her eyes through the haze of pleasure. "Just you. I just need you," she gasped, her entire body clenching as she came.

Because it was true. Maybe she never would know everything she needed about him—he did seem to live inside a puzzle box that he had built around himself—but he was enough for her.

He rolled over onto the other side of the bed. Both of them were out of breath. She caught him staring at her, even though he tried to turn away at the last second. His ears were glowing red, not just from exertion, and he had his hand over his face.

"What are you doing?" She giggled as she shuffled closer to him, trying to see what expression he was hiding. Much to her delight, the blush had spread down to his neck and chest.

He surprised her by pulling her in for a kiss that had her looking forward to the next round of sex.

He mumured a few words to her, which her poor, addled mind couldn't process. She blinked. "Come again?" Too late did she realize how that could be taken the wrong way.

Kakashi didn't miss a beat, smiling broadly at her. "Don't worry, you will."

"No, I meant, what did you say?" She rolled her eyes. If her limbs had not gone to jelly, she would have smacked him too.

"I said, 'You're amazing.'"

This time, it was her turn to go red. Both of them lay there, having done quite possibly one of the most intimate acts one could commit with another person, blushing in tandem.

"This means we're dating, right?" she asked, lacing her fingers with his.

"Yea. I think it does."

"Oh no." She started laughing, her shoulders shaking. "What am I going to tell Naruto?"

"Not it."

"That's not how it works!"

Eventually, they figured out how it would work, even if it took them the rest of the night.

THE END.

note: Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end. I apologize if this chapter was wonky! I did struggle with it (when don't I struggle in this life) but I'm really proud of myself for getting this far. I would really appreciate a review if you could leave one haha. It's what keeps my black heart running. XOXO


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